Abernethy - Round Tower

Abernethy is a village and former burgh about 13 km south-east Perth.

Formerly the site of a number of Roman encampments, Abernethy became an important Pictish religious and political centre. The parish church, which sits on land given by Nechtan, a king of the Picts, is dedicated to Saint Brigid of Kildare, and the church is said to have been founded by Dairlugdach, second abbess of Kildare, one of early Christian Ireland's major monasteries.

In 1072 the village was the setting for the Treaty of Abernethy, where Malcolm Canmore gave allegiance to William the Conqueror and its mediaeval round tower marks the site of a former abbey and, later, collegiate church.

The Round Tower is a stone-built Irish-style round tower which stands at the edge of the cemetery. Dating from the 11th century, the tower is one of only two such towers surviving in Scotland. The roofless ower is 22.5 m high and has a diameter of 4.57 m at ground level, tapering upwards to 3.96 m. Fixed to the outside base of the tower is a Pictish stone.