St Paul's Church is a former church building located in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross ( sco, Pairth an Kinross; gd, Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland and S ...

, Scotland. Standing in St Paul's Square, on the

Old High Street 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 th ...

, at its junction with South Methven Street, it was completed in 1807. The work of architect John Paterson, it is now a

Category B listed This is a list of Category A listed buildings in Scotland, which are among the listed buildings of the United Kingdom. For a fuller list, see the pages linked on List of listed buildings in Scotland. Key The organization of the lists in th ...

building. It was one of the first churches to be built in Perth after 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 ...

, sparked by

John Knox John Knox ( gd, Iain Cnocc) (born – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgat ...

's sermon at the nearby

St John's Kirk St John's Kirk is a church in the Scottish city of Perth, Perth and Kinross. Of Church of Scotland denomination, it is located in St John's Place, just southeast of the city centre. It stands on the former site of a church dating to 1126. Today ...

in 1559. The church closed in 1986, and fell into a state of dereliction. In June 2021, the church's bell rang out for the first time in thirty years, completing a £2.2-million restoration of the church into an outdoor performance space.

St Paul's Square

The square in which the church stands is also part of the Category B listing. Perth band

Fiction Factory Fiction Factory were a Scottish New wave music, new wave band from Perth, Scotland, Perth. Formed in 1982, they are best known for their single "(Feels Like) Heaven", which peaked at #6 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was written by Eddie Jo ...

frequented Bandwagon Music Supplies, which was located behind the church in St Paul's Square. "They would come into my shop wanting to hear their recording on my wee cassette recorder that turned out to be a number six single that still gets played today," said Pete Caban, the shop's owner. "I still see the guys, they still come in." The shop closed in 2020 after 37 years in business, with Caban blaming the delayed work on the church and resultant drop in foot traffic to the square."Perth music shop to shut after four decades as owner blames years of delayed works at city centre landmark"
– '' The Courier'', 4 August 2020 The building of the former Bandwagon Music shop now houses a gallery and gift shop. File:St Pauls Square, Perth - geograph.org.uk - 2066047.jpg, Looking down the western elevation of the church into the square File:St Paul's Place, Perth.jpg, Shops, including the now-defunct Bandwagon Music Supplies, in the square File:The Art Attic.jpg, alt=, The Art Attic gallery occupies the former Bandwagon space, as of 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St Paul's Church, Perth Category B listed buildings in Perth and Kinross Listed churches in Scotland Paul's, Saint 1807 establishments in Scotland Listed buildings in Perth, Scotland

St Paul's Square

See also

References