Stone of Destiny - First look at stone in new home at Perth Museum

The stone has come home and takes on a new, deeper form in an atmospheric display which harks back to a coronation at nearby Scone Abbey almost 800 years ago.

The Stone of Destiny can be seen in its new home for the first time.

The potent symbol of Scotland’s nationhood is going on show at the new Perth Museum, which opens to the public on Saturday.

The stone in position

The stone was moved from Edinburgh Castle to the museum early last week in an early hours amid a high police presence.

Now sitting apart from the Honours of Scotland, it is now the single artefact in a new display – and holds the room all on its own.

Visitors are first immersed in an audio visual display which embraces the mythology and history of the stone, including its theft by Edward I from Scone Abbey in the 13th Century and its return to Scotland from Westminster Abbey at the hands of four Glasgow University students in 1950.

Then, within a second room, the stone appears within the landscape of Mout Hill at Scone during the coronation of boy king Alexander III, who was crowned aged just seven in 1249.

Inside the museum

The atmospheric display offers and fresh and highly charged telling of the stone’s meaning and importance.

It is said that when the new display was revealed to staff from Historic Environment Scotland, who had cared for the stone at Edinburgh Castle, a round of applause broke out.

A guard will be in place at all times in the display room to deter protests and stunts.

Tickets to view the stone are free, but spaces must be booked in time slots must be booked through Perthshire Box Office.