The Municipal Buildings are a municipal facility at Nos. 1, 3 and 5 High Street, Perth, Scotland. The facility is a Category B listed building.[1]
| Municipal Buildings | |
|---|---|
Municipal Buildings, viewed from Tay Street in 2024 | |
| Location | Perth |
| Coordinates | 56°23′50″N 3°25′35″W / 56.3971°N 3.4263°W |
| Built | 1881 |
| Architect | Andrew Heiton and Andrew Granger Heiton |
| Architectural style(s) | Gothic Revival style |
Listed Building – Category B | |
| Designated | 26 August 1977 |
| Reference no. | LB39320 |
  Shown in Perth | |
History
editThe building stands on the site formerly occupied by the Old Chapel of Our Lady.[2] The facility replaced the old city chambers, which had been completed at the east end of the High Street, close to the River Tay, in 1696.[3][4] After the old city chambers became very dilapidated, civic leaders decided to procure new municipal buildings on the site.[4] The building was adjoined to the north in 1887 by Perth Middle Church, which filled the remainder of the block to George Inn Lane.[5]
Design and construction
editThe foundation stone for the new building was laid by the Earl of Kinnoull with full masonic honours in 1878.[4][6] The building was designed by Andrew Heiton and Andrew Granger Heiton in the Gothic Revival style and completed in 1881.[7][8][9] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with six bays facing High Street; the central section featured a gabled doorway on the ground floor; there was a tall window on the first floor with coat of arms and a turret above; there was also a slim tower at the south east corner of the building which was based on the design of the tower of the chapel at St Mary's Monastery, Kinnoull, which had also been designed by Andrew Heiton.[3][10] The municipal buildings were badly damaged in a fire on 23 January 1895 and, although the fire-proof record room survived,[11] much of the structure had to be rebuilt in a programme of works which was completed in 1896.[1] The building contains five stained-glass windows: three depict scenes from Sir Walter Scott's 1828 novel The Fair Maid of Perth, one is of Queen Victoria and her husband, Albert, Prince Consort, and the other is a representation of Robert the Bruce storming Perth's defensive walls in 1312. The first four were gifts of lord provosts of Perth, while the other was a gift of Sir Robert Pullar and James Pullar, in memory of their father, lord provost John Pullar.[12]
A stone engraving above the southernmost door on the Tay Street elevation reads: "This House Loves Peace • Hates Knaves • Crimes Punisheth • Preserves The Laws And Good Men Honoureth".[13]
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The building before it was rebuilt after the fire of 1895, viewed from Tay Street -
High Street elevation
Usage
editThe municipal buildings served as the headquarters of Perth Royal Burgh Council, until the council was replaced by Perth and Kinross District Council under the wider Tayside Regional Council in May 1975.[14] The buildings then remained the headquarters of Perth and Kinross District Council until the council moved across the road to new facilities in the former head office of General Accident at 2 High Street in 1984.[15] Staff also moved from the County Offices in York Place.[16]
The northern part of the building, which faced Tay Street, was developed for residential use in the late 1980s but the remainder of the property continued to be used by the council for administrative purposes until 2011.[17] In March 2020 the Council started a consultation on converting that part of the property that had been used for administrative purposes and which has been vacant since 2011, into a boutique hotel.[18]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Historic Environment Scotland. "Municipal Buildings, 1, 3, 5 High Street, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18 Tay Street (One Continuous Design) (Category B Listed Building) (LB39320)". Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ Official Guide to Perth and Its Neighbourhood by the Tramway Car Routes – Perth Town Council (1907), p. 4
- ^ a b "In pictures: Historic Perth". BBC. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ a b c "Perth Burgh Chambers". Made in Perth. 21 July 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Middle Church, (formerly) and halls, 4, 6 Tay Street (LB39305)". Retrieved 20 February 2022.
- ^ Gifford, John (2007). Perth and Kinross (Buildings of Scotland Series). Yale University Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0300109221.
- ^ "Perth Municipal Buildings". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Perth, 1, 3 High Street, Municipal Buildings (158739)". Canmore. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Perth, 5 High Street, Municipal Buildings (160082)". Canmore. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ "St Marys Monastery, Kinnoull". Being Catholic. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ Marshall, David (30 November 1899). "Notes on the record room of the City of Perth". Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. p. 275. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ Official Guide to Perth and Its Neighbourhood by the Tramway Car Routes – Perth Town Council (1907), p. 5
- ^ "Civic History of Perth from Medieval Times". Perth Civic Trust. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
- ^ "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ "The Fair City of Perth: Application for City Status" (PDF). Perth and Kinross Council. 5 April 2010. p. 8. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "York Place, A K Bell Library including Boundary Wall to York Place (LB39323)". Retrieved 30 September 2021.
- ^ "Hotel plan for landmark Perth city centre building". The Courier. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ "1–5 High Street, Perth; Proposed reuse of former Council Chambers and Justice of the Peace Court within hotel development". Perth and Kinross Council. Retrieved 18 April 2020.