Perth High Street (Perth and Kinross)

Lat:56.3967 Lon: -3.4306

The town of Perth sits on the River Tay. Two miles to the north-east lies Scone, royal centre of the Kingdom of Alba from at least the 9th Century. Proximity to Scone and a position at the highest navigable point on the river led Perth to develop as an important trading place.

Perth was granted Royal Burgh status in 1210, allowing guilds to be established. Leather crafts, metalwork, pottery and cloth making all became significant trades. By the late 17th Century, the textile industry had become dominant. In the 19th Century, linen, cotton and flax were all spun, woven, bleached and dyed in the town.

The layout of the original burgh was centred on the riverside and Watergate. The early town was probably organised along a north-south axis between the castle and St John’s Kirk. Perth remained compact until the industrial revolution brought rapid growth in the 18th and 19th Centuries. By this period the main axis of the town had shifted, now running east-west, with development running along High Street and South Street.

Features of the area

• Town
• River
• Industry
• Plain

Perth and Kinross Group

Perth and Kinross is one of Scotland’s 32 unitary council areas. It borders Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee City, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Stirling, Argyll and Bute and Highland. It has its administrative centre in Perth.

It corresponds broadly, but not exactly, with the former counties of Perthshire and Kinross-shire. These two counties operated under a joint county council from 1929 until 1975, when they merged into a single district of Tayside Region. The current council area was formed in 1996.

Elsewhere on the BBC

• BBC Tayside and Central Scotland

Elsewhere on the web

• Undiscovered Scotland: Perth
• Wikipedia: Perth
• Perth Museum and Art Gallery
• Perth and Kinross Council Local Studies