Scone

NO12NW 9 1170 2658.

(NO 1170 2658) Site of the (NAT) Royal City of Scone (NR)

OS 25"map, Perthshire, (1901)

For (post-removal) village of New Scone (NO 13 26), see NO12NW 60.

Scone is said to have been the capital of the Pictish kingdom previous to 843. The title 'Royal City of Scone' is said to date from 906. Thereafter, until the coronation of James IV in 1488, most Scottish kings were crowned at Scone, where the Stone of Destiny was preserved until its removal from the Abbey in 1296. Parliaments occasionally met here, as in 1294 and 1318. In 1651 Charles II was crowned in the 17th c. parish church on the Moot-hill. The vilage, with the exception of its Market Cross (NO12NW 9) was entirely removed by the Earl of Mansfield in 1803-4, the inhabitants and the 18th century parish church (NO 1170 2678) beieng removed to New Scone. In 1796 Scone is described as follows:- It consists of two streets and several lanes, one of the streets, being remarkably wide, serves for a market place. A considerable part of it has been either built or rebuilt within the last 10 years ... The number of souls in the village is 466 (OSA 1796). One Street was named the 'Chanter Gate' ... At the end of the 'Chanter Gate' was the 'Gallows Knowe' and in another direction the 'Prison-house' which would suggest that extensive rights were attached to the place (NSA 1845). OSA 1796; NSA (written by Rev J Craik) 1845; J D Urquhart 1883; F H Groome 1901.

'Site of the Royal City of Scone' altered to 'site of the Ancient Village of Scone' by order of Archaeology officer, 8 July 1926. This has been carried out on the Pop. Ed. 1"map of Scotland'

Name Book 1864.

'Site of the ancient village of Scone. (Approved by the owner, The Earl of Mansfield)'.

OS 6"map, annotated by O G S Crawford, 15 December 1952.

No further information was found regarding the site. No trace of any remains were seen in the area.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 16 October 1963.

Scone occupies a strategic position overlooking the Tay, at what was formerly the highest navigable point on the river and close to a crossing point. In the medieval period the river may have been bridged nearby.

Although Scone never attained the status of a burgh, the settlement that grew up alongside the abbey was possibly of some size. The villa de Scona is on record in the reign of Alexander II (1214-49) and in the chartulary of the abbey mention is also made of its Tebernae and bothae. Its extent in the late 17th century can be gauged from Slezer's 'Prospect of the House and Town of Skuyn'. Apart from a number of two-storey buildings of some architectural achievement, most of the houses appear to have been single-storeyed. On Roy's survey, the village is depicted with two main thoroughfares converging on a wide formal area to the E of the palace. Stobie shows these same two streets and a third to the N. At the junction he depicts the mercat cross (NO12NW 9.05: re-erected at NO 1157 2666), to the W the palace (NO12NW 9.01), and beside it the old parish church (NO12NW 9.17). This is corroborated by the author of the Statistical Account, who notes, 'It consists of 2 streets and several lanes, one of the streets, being remarkably wide, serves for a market place'. A considerable part of the village had been rebuilt over the previous decade and in 1796 the population numbered 466. The presence of a manse (built 1743), a meeting-house and a school is noted. The author of the New Statistical Account records that the thoroughfare to the S was known as 'Chanter Gate' ('chantourgait', 1586) and notes its association with the 'gallows knowe' and the 'prison house', the respective positions of which are indicated on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Perthshire 1867, sheet 86). The course of this road, and probably also a back lane with an accompanying ditch, can still be traced within the policies. A bridge across the Catmoor Burn, at the S end of Chanter Gate, is probably of mid-18th-century date. The second road depicted by Roy is probably the route followed by the N drive.

About 1804, acting on a proposal by John Claudius Loudon for the layout of the park and gardens at Scone, the village was removed to New Scone (NO12NW 60). Although today there is no visible evidence for the sites of the holdings of Old Scone, a number of walls within the policies may be of this period.

Scone had attained the status of a royal manor by the 12th century. Sheriffs of Scone are on record in the reigns of David I, Malcolm IV and William the Lion (Barrow 1960, 47-8). Although never the leading administrative centre of the kingdom, Scone retained its importance as an inaugural centre and, on occasion, as in 1294 and 1318, parliaments and other royal assemblies were held here. Similarly, it never attained the status of a burgh, due probably to the commercial competition of Perth, and in the lifetime of the abbey Perth was regarded as its trading centre. In 1581 Scone was erected a temporal lordship for William Lord Ruthven, Earl of Gowrie. After the Gowrie conspiracy in 1600 the title was forfeited, but in 1606 Scone was re-erected a temporal lordship for David Murray, Lord Scone, later Viscount Stormont.

Visited by RCAHMS (IMS) March 1990.

Reg Reg Scot; J Slezer 1693; W Roy 1747-55; OSA; J Stobie 1783; Liber de Scon; NSA 1845; W F Skene 1871; J D Urquhart 1883; B Dicks 1983; W B Stevenson 1988; Lynch, Spearman and Stell 1988.

Notes on the medieval town of Scone - These notes were prepared from an examination of the post-reformation feus of abbey property within and adjacent to the town of Scone, in conjunction with other sources readily available to the author. The research was carried out in Northampton, using sources to hand, and usefully demonstrates the need for more documentary research in the archaeological evaluation of heritage sites in Scotland.

The research provided the following insight into the town or Royal City of Scone, Scone Abbey and other related heritage:

1. That in the 16th century the town lay south and north of the Catmore Burn, and south of the designated location of the Royal City/ancient village.

2. In consequence, the town shown on the Roy's Military Survey 1747-55 and in Slezer's view of the house and town c.1698, probably represents a 17th century remodelling of the town in conjunction with the layout of Scone Palace.

3. There was a parish church 1599-1624, which is described in Post Reformation documents, and this probably stood in the graveyard east of the palace.

4. That Scone Abbey most probably stood south of Scone Palace, towards Friars Den.

Dr Thomas C. Welsh 2007.