Description

Circa 1810 incorporating earlier fabric and later alterations - see Notes. 2-, 3- and 4-storey painted ashlar hotel comprising principal section to centre dominated by large Ionic Venetian window; 3-bay 18th century tenement to right linked by continuous balustraded parapet; 6-bay, former tenement with wallhead nepus gable to centre incorporated to left with off-centre pend to ground; upper floors of 4-bay tenement to far left also incorporated. Enclosed courtyard to centre rear.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: Central section: pilasters divide bays to at ground floor. Venetian style window with Ionic-columned mullions and jambs (flanked by rectangular-headed niches with polychrome Black Watch figures) surmounted by large round-arched fanlight flanked by roundel panels. Balustraded parapet with central panel and guttae decoration. Parapet continues to 18th century tenement block to right (partly remodelled mid 19th century). 3-bay, 4-storey smooth rendered with lugged architraves and consoles to windows; pilastered and corniced doorpiece to left of centre.

INTERIOR: fine vaulted ceiling to 1st floor restaurant; moulded panels and decorative Adam style garland frieze over paired door entrance with margin lights. Stone fireplace dated 1699 to 'Stewart Room'. Timber Ionic columned and moulded consoled ornament to entrance and ground floor bar. Remains of earliers kilns to basement. Courtyard to rear with stone dated 1619 bearing arms of the Earl of Moray.

Variety of multi-pane glazing patterns to timber sash and case windows. Grey slate. Brick stacks.

Statement of Interest

The Salutation Hotel is one of Perth's most distinctive commercial buildings. Its monumental Venetian window at 1st floor fronting the Adam style restaurant room adds greatly to the interest of the streetscape and provides an eye-catching terminus to the view along St John Street, giving the impression of a triumphal arch forming part of a larger palatial scheme. The distinctive painted Black Watch figures also add much to the character of this notable building.

The earliest building recorded on this site was a private house belonging to the Murray family. It operated as a coaching inn between 1699 to 1745 and was a principal resting point on the coach roads from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Aberdeen and Inverness. The current street elevation was constructed in the early 19th century, at which time the Venetian window was added by Sir Robert Reid, the King's architect in Scotland. The much revised interior is particularly notable for the Adam style Dining Room with fine vaulted ceiling and the moulded fire place dated 1699 in room No 20. The building lays claim to being the oldest established hotel in Scotland and has expanded to occupy three neighbouring tenements, one to the right and two to the left.

List description updated at resurvey (2009).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Salutation Hotel at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17852518

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
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  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
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  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
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  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)