North Port and Curfew Row

The North Port

The North Port was the largest of Perth's medieval suburbs, growing up under the protection of the nearby Dominican Friary or Blackfriars. Before Alexander II gave the land to the friars, it had been the site of a royal castle, perhaps near the present Museum and Art Gallery. The castle was destroyed in the flood of 1209.

The Blackfriars were actively developing the suburb from the late 14th century. The main access to the suburb was from Skinnergate, crossing the town wall and ditch at the Red Brig, and entering the open space known as the Horse Cross, presumably a horse market. There was another access from the High Street up Roger's Close, across the town defences and into Curfew Row.

During the 18th century, the North Port suburb became very densely built up, as can be seen on Rutherford's map of 1774. By the 1930s, the area was actually rather disreputable, and was mostly cleared away to allow the extension of the Museum and Art Gallery.

The Blackfriars

The Dominican Friary was the most important of Perth's many religious houses. Founded in 1231, it was a frequent royal residence and meeting place of Parliament, but achieved unhappy notoriety in 1437 as the scene of the murder of James I. In later years, relations between the friary and the burgh were increasingly strained, as seen in the ludicrous Friars' Pot incident of 1543, when the friars' dinner was stolen from their kitchen and paraded through the streets.

The friary was dissolved, along with the other religious houses of Perth, in the Reformation of 1559. Parts of the friary buildings and burial ground were excavated in 1983-4, in advance of the building of the Carpenter Court sheltered housing scheme. The finds are now in Perth Museum and Art Gallery.

Curfew Row

Because it was outwith the burgh defences, Curfew Row developed as an industrial suburb, attracting maltsters, tanners and other trades requiring more space than was available in the burgh, and liable to cause a nuisance or a fire hazard to their neighbours. Various medieval ovens, pits and tanks were found under the present multi-storey car park when the site was excavated in 1999.

The Fair Maid's House

This building in Curfew Row is the oldest surviving house in Perth, and is of course fancifully linked to Catherine Glover, the heroine of Sir Walter Scott's novel The Fair Maid of Perth. Parts of the building are genuinely medieval, and in 1629 it was bought by the Glover Incorporation, but was much restored in 1893-4 and later. The Glovers were a very important trade in Perth, and their motto 'Grace and Peace' is carved over the door.

Lord John Murray's Stables

The arcaded building next to the Fair Maid's House was originally the stables of Lord John Murray's 18th-century townhouse. The stable lay derelict for many years, but was restored in the 1980s as solicitors' offices.

Lord John Murray, a Hanoverian general, was a younger brother of Lord George Murray, the Jacobite general of Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745-6. Both were sons of the first Duke of Atholl. George died in exile after the failure of the 1745 Rising. John managed to stay out of it altogether, despite being MP for Perthshire (1734-1761), as his military duties kept him in Europe at the time.

Perth's New Town

During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, parts of the northern suburb became rather fashionable. Overlooking the North Inch, the smart terraces of Atholl Street, Atholl Crescent and Charlotte Street were Perth's answer to Edinburgh's New Town.