Memorial details

Memorial type
Chapel or Church: Restoration or extension
District
Perth And Kinross
Town
Perth
County
Tayside
Country
Scotland
Commemoration
First World War (1914-1918)
Ceremony
  • Unveiled
    Date: 2 November 1928
    Attended by:
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
58771

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Current location

St John's Kirk
St John's Place
Perth
Perth And Kinross
Tayside
PH1 5SZ
Scotland

OS Grid Ref: NO 11943 23544
Denomination: Church of Scotland

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Description
St John the Baptist Church restored in 1923-26 in memory of the casualties of the County and City of Perth. The restoration includes the Memorial Chapel and Shrine, which holds the Book of Remembrance. The dedication inscription is on a plaque inset into the wall within the Shrine. See also our reference 58770 for 'The Golden Book'- The Book of Remembrance and 82938 and 82939 for 2 stained glass windows which formed part of the memorial scheme of restoration. Please note that, this is in St John's Kirk, but uses the full title of St John the Baptist Church. This is a bit confusing as there is another St John the Baptist Church in the City. The lettering is raised and the plaque is surmounted by a carving of the Cross of St Andrew. Flanking the plaque are two niche statues of Angels. The book of Remembrance is displayed in a glass top case below the plaque, mounted on a raised step.
Inscription
On the Left hand side Column- FRANCE/BELGIUM/GALLIPOLI/PALESTINE/ON THE SEA On the Right hand side Column-MESOPOTAMIA/AFRICA/ITALY/MACEDONIA/IN THE AIR Central Tablet-OUR HELP IS IN/ THE NAME OF THE LORD/ WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH/ TO/ THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN GRATEFUL MEMORY/ OF THOSE OF THE/ COUNTY AND CITY OF PERTH/ WHO FELL IN/ THE GREAT WAR 1914-19/ WHOSE NAMES ARE WRITTEN/ IN THE GOLDEN BOOK/ WITHIN THE SHRINE./ THIS CHURCH OF/ ST JOHN THE BAPTIST/ WAS RESTORED/ 1923-26/GREATER LOVE/HATH NO MAN THAN THIS/THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE/FOR HIS FRIENDS
Inscription legible?
yes
Commemorations
  • First World War (1914-1918)
    Total names on memorial: 0
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 0
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Undefined
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Chapel
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Stone
  • Plaque
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Stone
Condition
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Reference
  • warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?p=1306&mforum=warmemscot
  • PERTHSHIRE ADVERTISER: 03.11.1928 MEMORABLE ST. JOHN’S CHURCH CEREMONY UNVEILING OF MEMORIAL SHRINE COMPLETION OF RESTORATION SCHEME St. John’s, the ancient Church of Perth, will for all time be the Valhalla for the men of Perth and Perthshire who fell in the Great War. Within its walls is the Memorial Shrine which commemorates them. Yesterday’s memorable ceremonial, which marked the unveiling of the Shrine, coincided with the opening of the church after restoration, and the event in future years will be given its place amongst the outstanding historic happenings of ancient and modern Perth.........
  • Excerpt from "Illustrated Notes on the Stained Glass Windows and the Mediaeval Silver of the Kirk" a small pamphlet published by the Friends of St John`s Kirk of Perth in 1967. "Between 1923 and 1928 the Kirk was restored to its original plan by that great Scottish architect Sir Robert Lorimer,and largely through the munificence of the First Baron Forteviot of Dupplin.The restoration constituted the memorial to the men of the City and County of Perth who fell in the First World War.One of the chief features of this restoration is the lovely woodwork of the Choir,especially of the pulpit,organ case,choir screen and pews.The carving was done by the Clow brothers who were among Sir Robert`s chief craftsmen.One of Sir Robert`s pupils,an Indian sculptor,the late Finandra Bose,carried out the work on the bronze figure of St John the Baptist which stands at the side of the War Memorial Shrine in the North transept.Another feature of the war memorial restoration is the carved and coloured wooden bosses on the roof of the nave.These are the work of the late Mr and Mrs Meredith Williams." There are 8 stained glass windows-7 of which commemorate WW1 and the other WW2.In addition to the Shrine window and the North and South Transept windows which commemorate all who died in WW1,the Miller and Paton windows were given in memory of sons who died and the East Church and Freemasons are in memory of the respective congregation and brethren.The WW2 window commemorates the Black Watch.
  • Carter Postcard Collection
  • Our website www.ukniwm.org.uk/server/show/conMemorial.58770/fromUkniwmSearch/1

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

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