![]() A 2022 view, looking west to St Paul's Church | |
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Length | 0.50 mi (0.80 km) |
---|---|
Location | Perth, Perth and Kinross, Scotland |
East end | Tay Street (A989) |
West end | Caledonian Road (A989) |
High Street is a street and the primary retail area of the Scottish city of Perth. Established in at least the 15th century, its central section has been both modernised and pedestrianised, while its two ends are mainly Victorian in terms of their composite buildings. It runs for about 0.5 miles (0.80 km), from Tay Street (the A989) in the east to Caledonian Road (also the A989) in the west.
High Street, as a whole, is one of the three major east–west running streets in the city centre, the others being Mill Street to the north and South Street to the south, [1] although Mill Street was a later addition. [2] The River Tay runs perpendicular to the eastern end of the street, [3] at Tay Street, where more Victorian-era buildings now stand, as well a stone tablet indicating the site of a bridge that was destroyed in 1621. [4]
There is an entrance to St John's Centre from the pedestrianised section of the modern High Street. [5]
Beginning at Tay Street and continuing west to South Methven Street.
In a 1980 photograph by W. H. Findlay, a view of 80–94 High Street (part of a Category B listed row) [6] shows the Wallaces department store. It was demolished two years later. [7]
Paradoxical in name, the Old High Street is a continuation of the original thoroughfare, but dating to the 19th century. It runs for 0.16 miles (0.26 km) from South Methven Street in the east to Caledonian Road in the west. Today's eastern origin is punctuated by St Paul's Church, in the middle of its square, at the corner of Old High Street and South Methven Street. According to Historic Environment Scotland: "This 1807 church has significant historical and streetscape importance. It was one of the first churches to be built in Perth after the Reformation." [8] The church was built near the Chapel and Hospital of St Paul, founded in 1434, which hints at an earlier existence of the high street. The site is now occupied by Victorian-era buildings. [2]
Established in 1897, Alexander Thomson & Sons Grocers and Wine Merchants was a popular vendor on the street. [9] Thomas' son, Peter, later established Peter Thomson (Perth) Limited further along the street.
The Old High Street exemplifies how comparatively narrow the medieval street was.
Below is a list of the vennels that connect to the High Street.
Between 1975 and 1977, an archaeological excavation was undertaken at 75–95 High Street. The project "highlighted the preservative qualities of the anaerobic middens of the burgh". Almost thirty medieval wooden structures were found, including a collapsed wattle fence that had been a property line between burgage plots. [15]
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south; it borders the counties of Inverness-shire and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus to the east, Fife, Kinross-shire, Clackmannanshire, Stirlingshire and Dunbartonshire to the south and Argyllshire to the west.
Perth is a centrally located Scottish city, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and is the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population of about 47,430 in 2018.
Abernethy is a village and former burgh in the Perth and Kinross council area and historic county of Perthshire, in the east central Lowlands of Scotland. The village is situated in rural Strathearn, 8 miles (13 km) south-east of the city of Perth, near the River Earn's confluence with the River Tay and on the northern edge of the Ochil Hills.
Dunkeld is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to the geological Highland Boundary Fault, and is frequently described as the "Gateway to the Highlands" due to its position on the main road and rail lines north. Dunkeld has a railway station, Dunkeld & Birnam, on the Highland Main Line, and is about 25 kilometres north of Perth on what is now the A9 road. The main road formerly ran through the town, however following the modernisation of this road it now passes to the west of Dunkeld.
A vennel is a passageway between the gables of two buildings which can in effect be a minor street in Scotland and the north east of England, particularly in the old centre of Durham.
Perth is a city and former royal burgh in central Scotland. There has been a settlement at Perth since prehistoric times. Finds in and around Perth show that it was occupied by the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers who arrived in the area more than 8,000 years ago. Nearby Neolithic standing stones and circles followed the introduction of farming from about 4000 BC, and a remarkably well preserved Bronze Age log boat dated to around 1000 BC was found in the mudflats of the River Tay at Carpow to the east of Perth. Carpow was also the site of a Roman legionary fortress.
Perth Lade is an historic 4.5 mi (7.2 km)-long watercourse in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Created in the 11th century or earlier, it has been used to power several watermills, such as those that functioned at Perth's Lower City Mills, which have existed since the 18th century. Over its course, at least nineteen industrial sites existed; today, the remains of nine of these can be seen, the rest lost to inner-city development and housing schemes of the 20th and 21st centuries. A footpath follows the majority of the lade's course.
South Inch is a large public park in Perth, Scotland. About 31 hectares in size, it is one of two "Inches" in Perth, the other being the larger, 57-hectare (140-acre) North Inch, located half a mile across the city. The Inches were granted to the city, when it was a royal burgh, by King Robert II in 1374. Both Inches were once islands in the River Tay. The two Inches are connected by Tay Street.
Greyfriars Burial Ground is an historic cemetery in Perth, Scotland, dating to 1580. It is now Category A listed, with its collection of gravestones considered one of the best in Scotland. The cemetery closed to burials in 1978.
The vennels of Perth are a collection of small medieval streets in the city of Perth, Scotland. Similar to York's Snickelways, vennels are a public right-of-way passageway between the gables of buildings which can, in effect, be a minor street. In Scotland, the term originated in royal burghs created in the twelfth century, the word deriving from the Old French word venelle meaning "alley" or "lane". Unlike a tenement entry to private property, known as a "close", a vennel was a public way leading from a typical high street to the open ground beyond the burgage plots. The Latin form is venella, related to the English word "funnel".
Tay Street is a major thoroughfare, part of the A989, in the Scottish city of Perth, Perth and Kinross. Planned in 1806 and completed around 1885, it is named for the River Tay, Scotland's longest river, on the western banks of which it sits. The street runs from the confluence of West Bridge Street and Charlotte Street in the north to a roundabout at Marshall Place and Shore Road in the south. Three of the city's four bridges that cross the Tay do so in this stretch : Perth Bridge, Queen's Bridge and the single-track Tay Viaduct, carrying Perth and Dundee trains to and from Perth railway station, located 0.5 miles (0.80 km) to the north-west.
The A989 is a road in Perth, Scotland. Also known as the Perth Inner Ring Road, due to its circumnavigation of the city centre, it is 1.93 miles (3.11 km) long. Perth's city centre is around 0.5 miles (0.80 km) long and wide. The road was constructed around 1985.
Gowrie House was a building in the centre of Perth, Scotland, which existed in the 16th and 17th centuries. An earlier house on the site was standing in 1518, built or occupied by Elizabeth Gray, Countess of Huntly and the second wife of Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly. A document of 1552 mentions the great lodging that she had built in the Speygate of Perth. Latterly, the rebuilt and extended house was the home of George Hay, 1st Earl of Kinnoull (1570–1634), amongst others.
South Street is a prominent street in the Scottish city of Perth, Perth and Kinross. Established in at least the 15th century, it runs for about 0.5 miles (0.80 km), from the Dundee Road in the east to County Place in the west, passing through the entire breadth of the city. Queen's Bridge, completed in 1960 and opened by Queen Elizabeth II, carries South Street across the River Tay to and from Kinnoull.
Mill Street is a prominent street in the city of Perth, Scotland. Established in at least the 18th century, it runs for about 0.25 miles (0.40 km), from Bridge Lane in the east South Methven Street in the west, passing through roughly two-thirds of the northern third of the city centre.
Andrew Granger Heiton was a Scottish architect. He was prominent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Several of his works are now listed structures.
St John's Place is an ancient street in the city of Perth, Scotland, located a short distance southeast of the city centre. Today it runs for about 500 feet (170 yd) between King Edward Street to the west and St John Street to the east; it is now markedly smaller than when it was originally laid out, due to the construction of both Perth City Hall in 1914 and of St John's Shopping Centre in 1987, both in King Edward Street. The latter construction also saw the loss of the short-lived St John's Square, which was created in the 1960s. There is also a South St John Street, while North St John Street existed in the early 20th century.
Marshall Place is a prominent street in the Scottish city of Perth, Perth and Kinross. Commissioned in 1801, and today part of the A989, the Perth Inner Ring Road, it runs for about 0.23 miles (0.37 km), from a roundabout it shares with Tay Street and Shore Road in the east to a convergence with King's Place in the west.
Watergate is a street in the city of Perth, Scotland. Along with Skinnergate, it is one of the oldest streets in the city. It runs for around 0.12 miles (0.19 km) from High Street in the north to South Street in the south. It runs parallel to Tay Street to the east and St John Street to the west. At South Street, the road becomes Speygate, the former site of Gowrie House.
Atholl Crescent is a historic street in the city of Perth, Scotland. Established in the late 18th century, it runs, in a crescent form, for about 315 feet (96 m), from Atholl Street in the west to Charlotte Street in the east. It overlooks the southern edge of the North Inch. Thomas Hay Marshall, twice lord provost of Perth, and substantial landowner Thomas Anderson, are credited with building Perth's Georgian "new town" to the north and south of the medieval city centre, of which Atholl Crescent and Atholl Street were the first constructions.