North Inch

North Inch is a large public park in Perth, Scotland. About 57 hectares (140 acres) in size, it is one of two "Inches" in Perth, the other being the smaller, 31-hectare South Inch, located half a mile across the city. The inches were granted to the city, when it was a royal burgh, by King Robert II in 1374. Both inches were once islands in the River Tay; today, they are connected by Tay Street, part of the A989. The inch was the site of the "Battle of the Clans" in 1396. Balhousie Castle and Bell's Sports Centre are located on its western edge. A path circumnavigates the entire park. Overlooking the southern edge of the Inch is the Old Academy, built between 1803 and 1807. Perth Bridge, which is also known as Smeaton's Bridge and the Old Bridge, is nearby. In the 1840s, a large addition was made to the Inch by an excambion with the Thomas Hay-Drummond, 11th Earl of Kinnoull, bringing it up to 100 acres (40 ha). Three years after her husband's death in 1861, Queen Victoria unveiled a statue of Albert, Prince Consort, at the Inch. The couple and their children had stayed at the city's Royal George Hotel in 1848. It was their first time staying in a hotel, an occurrence prompted by their inability to stay at nearby Scone Palace because William Murray, 4th Earl of Mansfield, was out of town. Another statue, an obelisk near the river bank, commemorates the 90th Regiment of Foot, the Perthshire Volunteers, alias the Grey Breeks. It was unveiled by Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, on 8 December 1896. Unveiled in 1995, the 51st (Highland) Division War Memorial commemorates the soldiers of that infantry lost in World War II. A bandstand formerly stood to the west of the obelisk, a gift of James Pullar.