Perth Museum is the principal

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

in the city of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

in central

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Opening in 2024 in the former Perth City Hall building, the museum took on a number of exhibits from the former Perth Museum and Art Gallery. It also provides a permanent exhibition space for the Stone of Scone, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's coronation stone, which originated nearby in the

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

village of

Scone A scone ( or ) is a traditional British and Irish baked good, popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is usually made of either wheat flour or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often ...

- the ancient crowning place of the monarchs of Scotland. The museum aims to showcase the city's collections as well as recognising Perth's status as a former capital of the

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a Anglo-Sc ...

. The museum's building is located adjacent to the historic

St John's Kirk St John's Kirk is a church in the Scottish city of Perth, Perth and Kinross. Of Church of Scotland denomination, it is located in St John's Place, just southeast of the city centre. It stands on the former site of a church dating to 1126. Today ...

, facing onto

King Edward Street King Edward Street is a street running between the High Street to the north and Oriel Square to the south in central Oxford, England. On the east side of the street is the "Island" site of Oriel College, one of the colleges of Oxford Uni ...

and accessed from St John's Place. Opened in 1914 the City Hall provided an events space, before being closed in 2005 with the construction of the Perth Concert Hall.

History

In January 2019, BAM Construction began work on a £30 million programme of works to convert the Perth City Hall into a new heritage and arts attraction based on a design by

Mecanoo Mecanoo is an architecture firm based in Delft, Netherlands. Mecanoo was founded in 1984 by Francine Houben, Henk Döll, Roelf Steenhuis, Erick van Egeraat and Chris de Weijer. Foundation Houben, Döll and Steenhuis won a competition to de ...

. The new attraction would incorporate displays on the Stone of Destiny and the

Kingdom of Alba The Kingdom of Alba (; ) was the Kingdom of Scotland between the deaths of Donald II in 900 and of Alexander III in 1286. The latter's death led indirectly to an invasion of Scotland by Edward I of England in 1296 and the First War of Scotti ...

. A competition to name the building's forthcoming museum section was launched in March 2022, with the winning name being "Perth Museum", with 60% of the votes. The museum was shortlisted for the

Art Fund Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as ...

Museum of the Year Award 2025.

The collection

File:Stone of Destiny Travels to London for Coronation of Charles III.jpg, The Stone of Scone File:Carpow logboat.jpg, The

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

Carpow Logboat File:Perth Museum - Ta-Kr-Hb sarcophagus 01.jpg, The sarcophagus of Ta-Kr-Hb File:South Corston fragment of the Strathmore meteorite.JPG, Fragment of the Strathmore meteorite The centrepiece of the museum is the Stone of Destiny. The museum is also home to the mummified remains of an egyptian or Kushite woman named Ta-Kr-Hb. The collection also includes the 3,000-year-old Carpow Logboat, excavated from the

Firth of Tay The Firth of Tay (; ) is a firth on the east coast of Scotland, into which empties the River Tay (Scotland's largest river in terms of flow). The firth is surrounded by four council areas: Fife, Perth and Kinross, Dundee City, and Angus. ...

in 2001; the 17th century Glovers Incorporation dancing dress; and a cast of the record-breaking salmon caught in the Tay by Georgina Ballantine in 1922. The museum, in collaboration with the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and Māori advisors, has restored a rare cloak from New Zealand made entirely of

kākāpō The kākāpō (; : ; ''Strigops habroptilus''), sometimes known as the owl parrot or owl-faced parrot, is a species of large, nocturnal, ground-dwelling parrot of the superfamily Strigopoidea. It is endemic to New Zealand. Kākāpō can be u ...

feathers. Dating from the 1810s–1820s it is thought to be the only one in existence.

References

{{coord, 56.39585, -3.42940, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Museums in Perth, Scotland Local museums in Scotland Natural history museums in Scotland Decorative arts museums in Scotland Glass museums and galleries Category B listed buildings in Perth and Kinross Listed buildings in Perth, Scotland