St John’s Town

St John’s Town

St John’s Kirk is the oldest church in Perth, predating the formal foundation of the burgh of Perth in 1208. It gave the alternative name of ‘St Johnstoun’ to Perth – and the local football club still carries this name. In this church, John Knox preached in 1559 and started the Scottish Reformation. Where you are standing right now would have been the burgh’s graveyard until 1580. 500 years of burials have raised the ground by about 0.5m, and you now need to step down into the church building. St John’s Kirk was first mentioned in 1126, and completed in 1241. In 1440, a new choir was added. It was one of the most important parish churches in Scotland. Halkerston’s Tower had a room for female prisoners until 1823. In 1559, John Knox, the Scottish reformer, preached here and planted new ideas for a reformation of the church. His congregation was inflamed and destroyed not just all of forty altars to various saints in the kirk, but also the monasteries around Perth and incited others to follow. The Scottish Reformation had begun in Perth. The church has seen many changes over the years, including being split into three congregations through internal partitions. How you see it today is due to Sir Robert Lorimer’s design of 1923, when it was restored as a memorial to the Perthshire men who fought in World War I. There are many medieval features still to be found. It is definitely worth a visit.

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St John’s Town

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