The Fair City of Perth has a brand new museum, located within the City Hall. The Edwardian civic building (B-listed) had struggled to find a use over the last couple of decades, Many events were now hosted at the modern Perth Concert Hall, which opened in 2005. Perth & Kinross Council considered demolition of the City Hall but this was blocked by Historic Scotland. Instead, a £27 million redevelopment plan was announced and a major coup for the new museum was the arrival of the Stone of Destiny as the centrepiece. The complex opened in the spring of 2024.
Admission to the permanent galleries is free and there is also no charge to see the stone, although a time slot must be booked for this special exhibit. I decided to wait a few months until the initial rush died down and picked a midweek day in August during my summer holidays to pay a visit. Nicole and my mum accompanied me. Outside the grand entrance stood a sculpture of a Highland cow, part of an art trail that extends across the Perth & Kinross Council Area. A total of 30 bovine artworks are dotted around the local authority and are set to be auctioned at the end of the project's run, with all proceeds being donated to CHAS - an organisation that provides hospices for children and young people. A very worthy cause. The interior of the museum gives an overwhelming impression of space and height. It is easy to move around and the upper balconies contained additional displays. Various stuffed birds dangled on wires from the high ceiling. The collection was previously housed a few hundred yards distant in a joint museum and art gallery. This pre-Victorian building opened to the public in 1824, making it one of the oldest of its type in Scotland. The relocation of the city museum enabled its former home to be rebranded simply as Perth Art Gallery - a move that satisfies the requirement laid down when the building was gifted to the public in 1915 - that it may only ever be used as a library or exhibition space. We had visited the old place a few times and I'll definitely go back to see the galleries in their new form. In the City Hall, we browsed the exhibits on the ground floor and in the alcoves off to the sides. Mum said she had seen Billy Connolly perform here in days gone by. The last major concert in the venue was Morrissey (former Smiths singer) in 2004.
Perth was founded around the year 1000. The city is located by the tidal limit of the River Tay and at the furthest point downstream where it was practical to build a bridge in medieval times. A Viking-era sword was unearthed in 1848. The weapon survives in three pieces and was on display. One of the few Scottish towns to be defended by a stone wall, Perth developed a system of parallel streets that is still evident today, with many vennels. Royal Burgh status was granted around 1120, which brought trading advantages. St John's Kirk (next to the museum) is the spiritual centre of Perth. Indeed, at one time the city was known as St Johnstoun, a name preserved by the local football club St Johnstone, which competes in the Scottish Premier League. Originally constructed from wood, St John's Kirk was substantially rebuilt in the 15th century. The choir is the oldest part of the building, dating from 1448. Perth had strong links with a religious revolution known as the Reformation. In 1559, firebrand protestant John Knox gave a powerful sermon at the kirk that whipped listeners into a frenzy and led to them sacking the church interior before turning their fury towards local monasteries. The town of Scone lies just outside Perth. It was the original capital of the Kingdom of Scotland and a coronation site. The historic abbey was burned to the ground following the Knox diatribe. The last monarch to have been crowned here was James IV in 1488. He was killed at the Battle of Flodden following a disastrous invasion of England (the last sovereign from Great Britain to perish in this way). In controversial fashion, Scone reappeared on the royal map in 1651 when Charles II was crowned King of Scots during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms - a complex struggle involving politics and religion. Having attempted absolute rule, Charles I was deposed and executed during the conflict and the Commonwealth of England was established as a republic by Oliver Cromwell. The English monarchy was eventually restored in 1660 and Charles II succeeded his father south of the border. One of the museum's principal exhibits is the Bronze Age logboat, excavated from the River Tay at Carpow in 2006.
It had been spotted on the mudflats five years previously during an exceptionally low tide. The vessel then spent six years undergoing stabilisation and drying at the National Museums of Scotland collection centre in Edinburgh. Carved from a single oak trunk, the boat survived due to the peaty soil composition of the estuary area. Dated to around 1000 BC, the logboat is one of the oldest and best-preserved of its kind in Scotland. Experts say it could have been used for a range of purposes: a cargo craft, fishing vessel, or as a ferry.
Interestingly, the period terms BC and AD were not used on the text panels within the museum. Instead, CE and BCE appeared. It was my mum who noticed these time descriptions and neither she nor I knew exactly what they stood for. Coincidentally, two women standing next to us made the same observation. Nicole knew the answer. CE and BCE refer to "common era" and "before common era" respectively. Being neutral in terms of faith, the labels have become common in scientific and academic publications. Mum sought out the two ladies to bring them up to speed, although I should imagine it will take some time before the new indicators are rolled out in every museum up and down the land. A glass case contained the skeleton of a Pictish man reckoned to have died 1500 years ago (which puts us in the CE bracket). Housebuilding near Blair Atholl in 1985 uncovered stone-slab cist. The man is believed to have been around 45 years old at the time of his death and and computer generated image of his face was on display. Another fascinating artefact was a 3D-printed replica of a Roman tombstone. The copy is painted to suggest how the stone looked when originally made. The Romans believed the deceased were guided towards the next world by the spectres of the departed. The actual stone was found near Braco in 1671 and is on display at the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow. Perth was twice under armed occupation during the Jacobite uprisings. Over the next few decades, the city was transformed, growing beyond the old walls. Rich merchants and wealthy professionals set up home. As Perthshire residents emigrated or travelled to capitalise on opportunities offered by the expanding British Empire, they brought back evidence of their interactions with other cultures and societies. Museum collections often contain artefacts that were at best questionably sourced. Nowadays there is usually an acknowledgement of these escapades in galleries around the UK, the new Perth Museum being no exception. An unexpected find today was a preserved duck-billed platypus - the only mammal that lays eggs. Lurking in the same corner was a stuffed kiwi. The Tay is Scotland's longest river and many mills and factories were built along the banks in the 18th and 19th centuries. Perth Harbour connected the city's traders to Europe and beyond. Salmon fishing was an important industry until declining fish stocks prompted severe restrictions on this activity. As the population exploded, many people lived in appalling conditions and mortality rates were shockingly high. It was a time of great social change. Urban sanitation was established and schooling, housing and healthcare all saw steady improvements. A fair chunk of Perthshire lies within the geographical Highlands and this area became associated with tourism and pursuits such as hunting and shooting, often the preserve of the wealthy. As is the case in many regional museums, a display was dedicated to the effects of the world wars on local everyday life. Women were suddenly thrust into roles previously held exclusively by men, although many of these new employment opportunities for females ebbed away as the troops returned. Country houses across Perthshire were requisitioned and turned into military hospitals, staffed by hundreds of volunteers. Seeds were sown that would change society forever.
There was a special exhibition on the mythical unicorn but we gave this a miss. The entry fee was £10. And so to the Stone of Destiny. No photography was permitted inside the showpiece gallery and tours are conducted at 10-minute intervals. Each group contains around 20 people and a short film is shown, detailing the stone's illustrious history. Also known as the Stone of Scone, the oblong sandstone block played an integral part in the coronation ceremonies of Scottish monarchs for centuries. Originally kept at the now-vanished Scone Abbey, the stone was captured by the forces of King Edward I of England in 1296 and taken to Westminster, where it would aid the inauguration of English (and later British) monarchs for the next 700 years. In 1996, the ancient symbol of Scottish royalty was transferred to Edinburgh Castle in a blaze of publicity. It was kept alongside the Honours of Scotland (basically the crown jewels). When King Charles III was crowned in 2023, the stone was sent south to be placed beneath the coronation chair. Perth Museum is now the permanent home for the sacred slab. There was however an audacious attempt in 1950 to bring it back to Scotland. Four Scottish students sneaked into Westminster Abbey and carried the stone out to a waiting car. At some point, the stone was accidentally dropped and broken into two pieces (it was later repaired). The British Government launched a major hunt which initially proved unsuccessful. Presumably the students felt the heat and eventually the stone was left by the altar at Arbroath Abbey, whereupon it was returned to London. The gang was never prosecuted. After the film ended, we walked through to the viewing room where the stone sat within a subtly-lit glass case. An iron ring (to aid transport) is embedded in each end. It was very satisfying to see an object that has played such a pivotal role in our history. Afterwards we had lunch in the café (rather average) and wandered over to the Waterstone's bookstore across the street. A fine day out in the Fair City. A visit to the museum is highly recommended.
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