Perth’s Bowerswell House and cottages for the elderly set up to honour local war dead have been transferred to Servite Housing Association.
After being run by volunteers for 60 years, red tape and housing regulations prompted the transfer of the property on the lower slopes of Kinnoull Hill.
With a looming deadline to meet housing association standards and costly roof repairs and internal renovations, the volunteer committee reached an agreement with Servite.
Securing the future of the complex which includes the listed mansion with recreational rooms, 20 cottages and 21 flats, was welcomed by Provost John Hulbert.
He said, “We are pleased that a sustainable future has been secured for Bowerswell, continuing to provide affordable housing for the elderly in Perth.”
In was in the immediate post-war years that Bowerswell and the surrounding acres were purchased by Perth Town Council for £5000 to establish a “living” war memorial to the fallen in the second world war.
Former committee secretary Kathleen Flood said, “The original appeal captured the imagination of everyone in the years after a war which claimed more than 170 Perth lives.
“The response to the public subscription was incredible, with everything from back green concerts to buying bricks for sixpence raising money.”
She added, “A committee quickly repaid the council’s initial investment and built the original ‘cottages for the aged’ within the grounds of the original 1847 house, where Effie Gray and artist John Everett Millais were married in the lounge.”
Gordon Dow, former Bowerswell Memorial Homes chairman, said, “Times have changed but Bowerswell will forever remain the city’s war memorial.”
The complex was opened by the late Princess Margaret and she returned in 1992 to unveil the refurbished development.
The seven-strong committee, including the minister of Kinnoull Church, was formed under the chairmanship of the provost of the day, to safeguard the memorial status, and the Armistice Day service will continue to be held on November 11.
Meanwhile the Golden Book of Remembrance, which records the names of fallen, will be transferred to the A. K. Bell Library, where it will be accessible to all.