Perth, Priory, Chapel And Hospital Of St Leonard
Burial Ground (Period Unassigned), Chapel (Period Unassigned), Hospital (Period Unassigned), Long Cist(S) (Early Medieval), Priory (Medieval)
Site Name Perth, Priory, Chapel And Hospital Of St Leonard
Classification Burial Ground (Period Unassigned), Chapel (Period Unassigned), Hospital (Period Unassigned), Long Cist(S) (Early Medieval), Priory (Medieval)
Alternative Name(s) Leonard Institution; St Leonard's Cottage; Carr's Croft; Perth, General Railway Station
Canmore ID 28432
Site Number NO12SW 63
NGR NO 1124 2293
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/28432
- Council Perth And Kinross
- Parish Perth
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Perthshire
NO12SW 63.00 1124 2293
(NO 1124 2293) Supposed Site of St Leonard's Chapel, Nunnery and Hospital (NR)
OS 1:500 map, Perth, 1863.
NO12SW 63.01 NO 1135 2282 Watching Brief
For Perth (General) Station (NO 11220 23139), see NO12SW 192.
In 1608 victims of the plague were buried at St. Leonards.
NSA (written by W Thomson, 1837) 1845.
The site pointed out is by tradition to be the immediate vicinity of St Leonard's Cottage formerly a farm house, called St Leonards; A plan of Perth dated 1792 shows the site immediately on the east side of St Leonard's Cottage, and of late years human bones have been dug up in considerable quantities at a short distance from this supposed site.
Information from 'Plan of Perth' 1792; New Statistical Account (NSA) 1845; D Peacocke 1849; OS Name Book 1860.
The Leonard institution occupied a Nunnery an Hospital, and a Chapel, and was ruled by a Prioress. In 1296, the Prioress swore fealty to Edward I of England. By a grant of James I (1406-1437) the priory was transferred to the Carthusian Monastry and in 1438 was suppressed, but the Chapel was used up to the Reformation, when it shared the fate of an other ecclesiastical building.
R S Fittes 1885.
Many long cist burials were found at Perth a few years ago, in an extension of the general railway station there, and were supposed to have belonged to the burial ground of a nunnery which once occupied a site in that neighbourhood.
A Hutcheson 1903.
The Augustinian Nus, Perth, St Leonard, that house is specifically mentioned as Augustinian is a papal letter 5 February 1292/3.
D E Easson 1957.
NO 113 228. A watching brief (by SUAT) on the site of a former engine shed near St Leonard's Chapel revealed modern infilling over a dark garden or plough soil. Two sherds of medieval pottery and one piece of daub were recovered from the dark soil deposit. The site indicated that there is a good possibility of finding evidence of St Leonard's Chapel surviving in the former ground surface beneath the railway bedding.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland.
R Cachart 1993.
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.
