Abernethy, United Kingdom

A group of Roman sites within the village have been given the name "the Abernethy complex", including later use of the fortress at Castle Law and the site of the former Carpow Roman Fort to the east of the village.

The village was once the "capital" (or at least a major religious and political centre) of the kingdom of the Picts. The parish church, which sits on land given by Nechtan,a king of the Picts, is dedicated to Saint Brigid of Kildare (fl. 451–525), and the church is said to have been founded by Dairlugdach, second abbess of Kildare, one of early Christian Ireland's major monasteries.

Several pieces of Pictish or early medieval sculpture have been found in Abernethy, including an incomplete Pictish symbol stone attached to the base of the round tower. The location "Afarnach's Hall" referred to in the earliest mediaeval Arthurian literature is usually identified as Abernethy.

Abernethy is believed to have been the seat of an early Pictish bishopric, its diocese extending westward along Strathearn. In the 12th century the bishop's seat was moved to Muthill, then Dunblane, so that Abernethy, no longer being a residential bishopric is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.

In 1072, Abernethy was the site of the Treaty of Abernethy concluded between William the Conqueror and Malcolm III of Scotland. Alexander de Abernethy maintained a connection to the area.

Abernethy remained the site of a small priory of Augustinian canons, founded 1272. In the 15th century, this priory was suppressed in favour of a collegiate church under the patronage of the Douglas Earls of Angus. Remains of the collegiate church survived until 1802 within the present village graveyard, when they were replaced by the present plain red sandstone church, which is still dedicated to Saint Brigid.

Abernethy was granted a charter as a burgh of barony in 1476 by the 5th Earl of Angus, a status confirmed in 1628 by the 11th Earl. The Earl of Angus and Lord Abernethy have become subsidiary titles of the Dukes of Hamilton. It later became a police burgh and held its burgh status and instruments of local government until the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

In 1933, Powrie Park was gifted to the burgh by William Powrie as a memorial and is maintained as common good land by Perth and Kinross Council.

In October 1909, future Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke at a political rally in the village, which was protested by a group of Suffragettes including Adela Pankhurst.

In the Second World War, the village hosted a camp for Polish forces and was the destination for a number of evacuees. In 2012, the London Olympics torch relay passed through Abernethy as part of its progress around the British Isles.