Lodge Scoon and Perth No. 3

Lodge Scoon and Perth No. 3 is one of the most ancient Masonic lodges in Scotland, with a Mutual Agreement dated 24 December 1658 — the oldest existing record of the lodge — recording that King James VI was 'entered Freemason and Fellowcraft of the Lodge of Scoon' on 15 April 1601. The lodge had met in premises at 16 High Street, Perth for at least a century.

In August 1931 the Lodge sold its High Street rooms for £1,500, simultaneously acquiring No. 6 Atholl Crescent from the trustees of William Turner for £1,000. When No. 5 came on the market, the Lodge judged it more suitable for their purposes and purchased it from Major Graham on 24 February 1932 for £1,000; No. 6 was subsequently sold in April 1933.

The Perthshire Advertiser of 27 February 1932 records that the trustees of the Lodge petitioned Perth Dean of Guild Court for permission to make internal structural alterations to No. 5 and to erect a lodge-room to the rear for use as a Masonic lodge and relative offices. Warrant was granted by Bailie J.K. Taylor.

The foundation stone of the new lodge-room was laid on 6 August 1932 in a ceremony described in the Perthshire Advertiser as 'a ceremony historic in the centuries' annals of the ancient Lodge'. The Provincial Grand Master for Perthshire East, the Reverend A. Wylie Smith, officiated, depositing coins in the cavity of the stone. After the ceremony at Atholl Crescent, the brethren returned to the Lodge room in the High Street.

The building was consecrated and opened on 4 March 1933 in a remarkable ceremony attended by nearly 300 masons from no fewer than thirty-four lodges, drawn from across Perthshire, Scotland, and as far afield as Nigeria, North Carolina, and Karachi. The proceedings began with a closing ceremony in the old High Street premises — which the Lodge had used for at least a century — before a procession marched through Perth to Atholl Crescent, its progress witnessed by many interested spectators. The procession was led by the Provincial Grand Lodge.