King James VI Hospital is an historic building in

Perth, Scotland Perth (Scottish English, locally: ; gd, Peairt ) is a city in central Scotland, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population o ...

. Located on Hospital Street, it is a Category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

, built in 1750.Hospital Street, King Street and Albert Place, Former King James VI Hospital Including Boundary Walls
–

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...

It stands on the former site of Perth Priory (1429), which was burned in 1559 during the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. Of the Priory buildings, said to be "of wondrous cost and greatness," nothing survives above ground. Excavations have failed to identify the exact location. The name Pomarium Street, for modern housing near the site of the medieval buildings, recalls the site of the house's orchard, which seems to have survived into the 18th century. An H-shaped building, four storeys high, it is finished in greywash harled rubble "with raised

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

margins and

quoin Quoins ( or ) are masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry con ...

s at angles". The central block is topped by an octagonal belfry believed to have been taken from Nairne House, in

Bankfoot Bankfoot is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, approximately north of Perth and south of Dunkeld. Bankfoot had a population of 1,136 in 2001. In the 2011 Census the population of Bankfoot was 1,110 people with there being a slightly h ...

, which was demolished in 1748 after being forfeited during the 1745

Jacobite Rebellion Jacobitism (; gd, Seumasachas, ; ga, Seacaibíteachas, ) was a political movement that supported the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British throne. The name derives from the first name ...

. The building was funded by royal endowment and public subscription, and it served several functions, including being an

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

, an industrial school and an infirmary, as well as being a

reformatory A reformatory or reformatory school is a youth detention center or an adult correctional facility popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Western countries. In the United Kingdom and United States, they came out of social concern ...

for delinquents. The building was shaped in an "H" to maximise the supervision of its occupants by a minimal amount of staff. In 1814, most of the building was rented out for other uses, and in 1838, a separate infirmary was built 500 feet to the west, on York Place (now occupied by A. K. Bell Library). The building was renovated and restored in 1976 and has 21 residential flats within its modified interior. The hospital boardroom was maintained.''A History of King James VI Hospital''
– PSNS.org.uk

Monument

File:Site of the Charterhouse, Perth.jpg, A monument, at the Hospital Street and King Street (northeastern) corner of the property, marks the former site of the Priory

References

{{reflist

External links

''The King James VI Hospital Perth''
– Friends of Perth & Kinross Council Archive, page 5, issue 28, April 2010
Perth, Hospital Street, King James Vi Hospital
– Canmore.org.uk 1750 establishments in Scotland Listed buildings in Perth, Scotland Hospitals in Perth, Scotland Category A listed buildings in Perth and Kinross Defunct hospitals in Scotland

Monument

See also

References

External links