Location: 2-4 Hospital Street Perth PH2 8HN
The Category A Listed Building of the former King James VI Hospital on Hospital Street was built in 1749-50 on the site of a Carthusian Monastery which was destroyed in 1559 during the Reformation.
King James I (1394 – 1437) founded The Charterhouse or Carthusian Monastery in 1429 for a prior and 12 monks (reflecting the number of the apostles) as the only Carthusian Monastery in Scotland. The Carthusian Order was founded in 1084 by St Bruno in France.
There is nothing left above ground of the original monastery buildings. A monument to its foundation can be seen in the grounds. The site of the monastery’s orchard is reflected in the name of the nearby Pomarium Street where the orchard survived until the 18th Century.
King James I and his wife, Jane Beaufort are both buried here. James I was murdered in Perth, and was buried here in 1437. Margaret Tudor is also buried here. She was the sister of Henry VIII and the wife of James IV.
After the Reformation, the hospital on the site was founded by Royal Charter in 1569 by James Stewart, Earl of Moray. He was Regent for King James VI who was very young at the time. The plaque above the entrance says “Founded by King James the Sixth 1587”. By 1814 most of the building was rented out for other uses, and in 1838, a separate infirmary was built nearby, on York Place (now occupied by A.K. Bell Library).
Further reading about the Monastery can be found here: History of King James VI Hospital on the site of the earlier Carthusian Monastery (psns.org.uk)
Walking Route Instructions: To get to our next stop, go back to the junction and walk along the main road, County Place which continues into York Place and you will find A.K. Bell Library on your left.
Picture credits: Kim traynor / Site of the Charterhouse, Perth https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Site_of_the_Charterhouse%2C_Perth.jpg