Imperial gazeteer of Scotland, or, Dictionary of Scottish topography > Volume 1

ABERDEEN.
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ABERDEEN.
a very beautiful Ionic facade. The West church is
a plain structure, in the Italian style, and contains
a stone effigy of Sir Robert Davidson, provost of
Aberdeen, who fell at Harlaw in 1411, — a curious
brass plate, in memory of Dr. Duncan Liddell,
founder of the mathematics chair in Marischal col-
lege, — and a fine white marble monument, executed
by Bacon, at the cost of £1,200, in memory of a
ladv. The East church is a masterly and much-
admired Gothic structure, nearly after the model of
the fine old relic of mediaeval architecture which it
replaced. The two churches are separated from
each other by the original transept of the old church
of St. Nicholas, now called Drum's Aisle, in conse-
quence of being the burial-place of the ancient fa-
mily of that name; and this is surmounted by a
square tower and spire, 140 feet high, containing a
set of very finely toned bells. In the cemetery lie
the mortal remains of the poet of ' the Minstrel,' of
Principal Campbell, of the learned Blackwell, and
of Dr. Hamilton, the author of a work on the Na-
tional Debt. — Greyfriars church stands in a court
adjacent to Marischal college, behind some lofty
houses which separate it from Broad-street; and is a
plain ancient Gothic hall, with a modern aisle on its
east side. The General Assembly of 1640 was held
here; and the town-council, on that occasion, made
lavish outlay on the church and otherwise in order
to do the assembly honour. — St. Clement's church,
at Footdee, is a neat Gothic building of 1828, sur-
rounded by a cemetery. The South church, in Bel-
mont-street, is a Gothic structure of 1831, with
massive gables and tower. The North church, in
King-street, was built in 1826, at a cost of £10,500,
and is an oblong edifice in the Ionic style, with a
circular tower 150 feet high. The Free East, West,
and South churches, in Belrnout-street, form an im-
posing cruciform pile, with a graceful brick spire.
St. Andrew's Episcopal church, in King-street, was
built in 1817, at a cost of £8,000, is a handsome
sandstone Gothic structure, and contains a statue
of Bishop John Skinner by Flaxman. St. Mary's
Episcopal church, in Garden-place, was built shortly
before 1865, is in the early pointed style, and has a
very rich interior. The Independent chapel, in
Belmont-street, was built in 1865, at a cost of
£3,200, and is in the Romanesque style. The Ro-
man Catholic church, in Huntly-street, is a recent
edifice in the early English pointed style, and is ex-
tensive and imposing.
The Town-house stands on the north side of
Castle-street, and was erected in 1730. It is a
plain edifice, containing town-hall, council cham-
ber, and other apartments ; and on its east end is
an old square tower, now faced up in a very taste-
ful manner with dressed granite, and isisurmounted
by an elegant spire of 120 feet in height. The
Court-house adjoins the town-hall, and was erected
in 1818. A new suite of Municipal and County
buildings was projected near the end of 1865 ; to
occupy the site of the Town-house and Court-house,
but to retain the tower; to present a frontage of 200
feet to Union-street, and one of 115 feet to Broad-
street; and to have, at its southwest angle, a tower
28 feet square, surmounted by turrets and a lofty
lantern gablet. The style is French Gothic, inter-
mingled with Scottish baronial ; and the estimated
cost was £60,000. — The Music-hall buildings are
westward of the bridge in Union-street ; include
the quondam county buildings, erected in 1820 at
a cost of £11,500; and have a new splendid hall,
added at a cost of £5,000, opened by the late Prince
Consort, capable of accommodating nearly 3,000
persons, and containing a very fine organ. — The
cross, one of the most beautiful structures of its
kind, stands in the middle of the upper end of Cas-
tle-street. It is an hexagonal building, richly orna-
mented with large medallions of the kings of Scot-
land from James I. to James VII. ; and from the
centre springs a splendid column of the composite
order, and surmounted by an unicorn bearing on
its breast a scutcheon charged with the Scottish
lion. It was the work of John Montgomery, a
country mason from the village of Old Rayne,
and was originally erected in 1686, on the site
of a more ancient cross, at the top of a smooth
pavement, opposite the entrance of the Court-house,
but, in 1842, for the sake of better effect, it was re-
built where it now stands, with great improvements
in style, and on a basement of several feet in height
above the level of the street, and surrounded by
an iron railing. — A colossal statue of the late Duke
of Gordon, formed after a model by Campbell of
London, stands about 30 feet in front of the cross,
and nearly in the centre of Castle-street. The
figure, hewn from a single block of granite,, mea-
sures, including the plinth, 11 feet 3 inches; and
the pedestal, a block of red granite, is 10 feet 3
inches in height. — A bronze statue of the late
Prince Consort, by Baron Marochitti, stands in a
circular recess at the south end of Union terrace,
on the west side of Union bridge. It represents
the Prince seated, wearing various orders, with a
scroll in one hand, and his field-marshal's hat in
the other. The statue itself measures 6A feet in
height, and is placed on a pedestal of polished
Peterhead granite 8 feet high. The likeness is not
considered good. The statue is a memorial one by
the town and county of Aberdeen, and was publicly
inaugurated on 13 October, 1863, in presence of the
Queen.
The Jail is situated immediately behind the
Court-house, and was built in 1831. It is 129 feet
in length, and 98 in breadth, and contains 69 cells
and 6 day-rooms ; and within its precincts is a
court divided into six compartments, with the turn-
key's lodge in the centre. — The West prison stands
near the west end of Union-street, and was erected
in 1809, at the expense of nearly £12,000. It is a
large castellated building, within a square area of
nearly two Scotch acres, surrounded by a high en-
closing wall, and containing 112 cells, besides two
sick-rooms, and 8 small adjoining dormitories, and
having attached to it a house occupied by the
chaplain, and other accommodations. It has not
been used as a prison since 1863, the other jail af-
fording accommodation for all the criminals under
confinement. — The Barrack stands on the crest of
the Castle-hill, above the Waterloo quay, and was
built in 1796. It has an appropriate and command-
ing appearance, and contains quarters for about
600 men.
The Old Bridge of Dee, though situated about a
mile south-west of the landward extremity of Union-
street, belongs really to the city, both because it is
under the sole management of the town council, and
because it is connected with the city by a chain of
interesting suburbs; and till quite recently, it was
also the line of the only great thoroughfare to the
south of Scotland. Bishop Elphinstone left a con-
siderable legacy to build a bridge over the river
Dee, near Aberdeen, but died in 1514, before any-
thing was done towards it. Gavin Dunbar, son of
Sir James Dunbar of Cumnock, by Elizabeth, daugh-
ter of the Earl of Sutherland, having succeeded to
the bishopric of Aberdeen in 1518, fulfilled his pre-
decessor's intentions, and erected the greater part of
the bridge where it now stands, about the year 1 530.
This bridge having gone into decay, was restored
out of the funds belonging to itself, between the