A Highland soldier crowns a large cairn commemorating the Black Watch and the regiment’s first muster in the Aberfeldy district.
Quick facts
- Date
- 1887; rebuilt after lightning damage in 1910
- Architect / designer
- John and William Birnie Rhind; built by Gow and Dewar
- Type
- Boulder-cairn regimental monument with figurative sculpture
- Designation
- Listed building, Category B (LB20862)
- OS grid reference
- NN 85167 49230
Architecture, archaeology and continuing use
A piled boulder cairn carries inscribed tablets on four faces and a large figure of Private Farquhar Shaw in early regimental uniform. Relief, Gaelic text and battle honours turn the monument into a compact regimental history.
Its story
Public subscription funded the monument, unveiled during Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee year. Lightning later damaged the structure and prompted rebuilding in 1910, while a 1970 inscription recorded the regiment’s freedom of the burgh.
Why it is included
The Category B monument combines notable sculpture, military history and public memory beside the Tay crossing associated with the regiment’s early story.
What to notice
- The soldier posed with musket and drawn sword.
- Four tablets presenting different aspects of regimental history.
- The contrast between rough cairn stones and formal sculpture.
Reading the surroundings
The monument stands in public open ground. View without climbing or touching the sculpture, and respect remembrance events, maintenance work and the adjacent road.
Timeline
- May 1740 The Royal Highland Regiment held its first muster in the Aberfeldy area.
- 14 November 1887 The Marquis of Breadalbane unveiled the completed monument.
- 1910 Reconstruction followed serious lightning damage.
- 5 September 1970 A new tablet recorded the Black Watch receiving the freedom of Aberfeldy.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
The monument commemorates a muster associated with the area, but community research places the exact field across the river rather than beneath the monument itself.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: Black Watch Monument, LB20862 — Designation status, mapped location, date, fabric and architectural or archaeological interest.
- Perth and Kinross Council: Common Good Register — Current council register framework for Aberfeldy common-good property, including the monument site and its public-asset context.
- Perth and Kinross Council: 2025 public processions — Current official evidence of a commemorative service at the Black Watch Monument on Taybridge Drive.
- The Black Watch: regimental history — Independent regimental context for the first muster and Farquhar Shaw.
Location
OS grid reference NN 85167 49230 · Location confidence: High: the national designation supplies an official mapped National Grid Reference; the independent source confirms the Place relationship, history or current identity. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
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