Perth Sheriff Court

Originally, court hearings in Perthshire were held in a tolbooth in the High Street which dated back at least to the 15th century. The Parliament of Scotland met in the tolbooth in 1604 and 1606, and many prisoners were incarcerated there by the Duke of Cumberland in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745. In the early 19th century it became necessary to commission a dedicated courthouse: the site the sheriff selected was occupied by Gowrie House, the location for the Gowrie Conspiracy, which surrounded an attempt on the life of King James VI in 1600. Gowrie House is acknowledged with a bronze panel by Sir John Steell on the south wall of the new building. The new building was…