Perth, St Paul's Chapel And Hospital
Chapel (Medieval), Hospital (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Perth, St Paul's Chapel And Hospital
Classification Chapel (Medieval), Hospital (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) 268 High Street; Newrow; St Paul's Close
Canmore ID 28342
Site Number NO12SW 18
NGR NO 1143 2365
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/28342
- Council Perth And Kinross
- Parish Perth
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Perthshire
NO12SW 18 1143 2365.
(NO 1143 2365) Supposed site of St Paul's Chapel (NR)
and (NAT) Hospital (NR)
OS 1:500 map, Perth, 1863.
In 1434 AD John Spens of Glendewghie or Glendouglas founded a Chapel and Hospital, dedicated to St Paul at the north-west corner of the Newrow, next to the High Street.....and the locality is now known as Paul's Close. After the Reformation, in 1583 a proposal to re-establish a hospital in the ruins was never carried out.
R S Fittes 1885.
This Chapel and hospital is believed to have stood on the northern side of St Paul's Close. Hutchison, an old man who has property in the Close states that he saw great quantities of human bones dug up in all parts of the close and when digging for the foundation of a house on on the north side a draw well of great depth was found. This well is considered to have supplied water to the hospital and a few yards east of this well the site of St. Paul's Chapel, is shown on two old plans of
Perth. (Rutherford's in 1774 and McFarlane's in 1792?)
Name Book 1860.
Publication Account (1982)
In addition to the parish church Perth had a number of chapels. A chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin at the castle was damaged in the great flood of 1209, and seems to have been rebuilt at some distance from the river (Marshall., 1816, 381). A chapel dedicated to St. Anne had a hospital associated with it as did a chapel dedicated to St. Katherine (Marshall, 1856, 383). The chapel of the hospital of St. Leonard was mentioned in a papal bull of 1184 and the hospital in 1227 (Cowan and Easson, 1976, 187). Two other hospitals and chapels dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene and St. Paul were founded for the reception of the poor (Cowan, 1976, 187-8).
Information from ‘Historic Perth: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1982).
Field Visit (1997 - 2001)
Derek Hall managed an Historic Scotland funded project to record medieval hospital sites in Scotland. Gazetteers were produced for each regional council area between 1997 and 2001 with an overall review in 2001.