Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

KING STREET, FORMER ST LEONARD'S PARISH CHURCHLB39309

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
20/05/1965
Local Authority
Perth And Kinross
Planning Authority
Perth And Kinross
Burgh
Perth
NGR
NO 11512 23373
Coordinates
311512, 723373

Description

W M Mackenzie, 1834-6 with additions by James Smart, 1891 (see Notes). 3-bay, rectangular-plan, Neo-Classical former church surmounted by pedestal with rotunda based on Lysicratic Choragic Monument (see Notes). Polished ashlar to principal (E) elevation, lower part chanelled; rubble to sides and rear.

E ELEVATION: Steps to 3 tall, narrow 2-leaf timber doors in round-arched doorpieces with fanlights set in moulded over-arches. Horizontal recessed panels above denoting attic. Cornice and blocking course. To roof: central pedestal flanked by swept consoles with scroll carving. Above, rotunda (blocked) with Corinthian columns surmounted by moulded cap with floral-type finial at apex.

N and S (side) elevations with 2-tier fenestration; round-arched windows at upper tier. Rose window to rear (apse) elevation, flanked by full-height round-arched windows in canted angles.

INTERIOR: recast and extended (1891) with addition of apse. Slender cast-iron columns support D-plan gallery, now with later suspended ceiling. Raked fitted timber pews at upper level. Stained glass: predominantly glass circa 1836 with resurrection scenes to left wall and later geometric patterned glass in apse, probably 1891.

Statement of Special Interest

St Leonard's is a well-detailed Classical former church mixing Greek and Italianate influences. Built as a chapel of ease, the building provides an eye-catching terminus to the axial view from Charterhouse Lane, adding considerably to the wider streetscape. It is characterised by its bold symmetrical massing and its distinctive version of the Choragic Monument denoting a belfry stage. It originally seated 950.

The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens was built in 334 BC to commemorate a win in a choral festival and was one of the first structures built according to the Corinthian Order. It became an icon in the Greek Revival Movement in Britain and reached its height in Scotland during the 1820s and 30s. The Lysicrates Monument motif was utilised at the Burns Monument in Alloway and the Art Centre in Aberdeen's King Street (see separate listings).

Prominent local architect W M Mackenzie was influenced by the Neo-Classicism of Thomas Hamilton and John Soane in England. He revised the feuing plan for King Street in 1830 to provide sites for individually commissioned villas. He also designed the former County Infirmary (now A K Bell Library and Lodge - see separate listings). Local architect David Smart added the apse to the W in 1891 which includes some notably colourful high Victorian stained glass. St Leonard's is currently (2009) in use as an auction house.

List description updated at resurvey (2009).

References

Bibliography

evident on 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1860). Nick Haynes, RIAS , An Illustrated Guide to Perth and Kinross (2000) p20. John Gifford, The Buildings Of Scotland - Perth And Kinross (2007) p585.

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 28/03/2024 14:28