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

ABERDEEN.
11
ABERDEEN.
years 1720 and 1724; ami again it was widened
from 15 to 26 feet, at an expense of £7,250, in 1842;
and on the latter occasion, the facing of the en-
larged side was carefully taken down and replaced
so as to maintain unimpaired the old character of
the masonry. The bridge is a fine structure of
seven arches; and in the times of the ecclesiastical
civil wars, it was the scene of more than one tough
contest between the Covenanters and their oppres-
sors. — A suspension bridge, called the Wellington
bridge, was, in 1829, erected over the Dee at Craig-
lug, 2,600 yards below the old bridge; and is a very
splendid structure of 140 feet in span. — The viaduct
of the Aberdeen railway across the Dee is one of
the most magnificent things of its kind in Scotland,
and a fine addition to the many striking architec-
tural features of Aberdeen, but unhappily is so near
the Wellington bridge as to make its relative posi-
tion awkward, and to produce a confusing effect on
the spectator. It was erected after a design by
Messrs. Locke and Errington, and, from the pecu-
liar difficulties attending its construction over a vo-
luminous, rapid, and shifting river, causing more
than one alteration in its foundations, is not the
least creditable among the substantial and elegant
achievements of modem engineering. — An excellent
drawbridge goes across the harbour, opposite the
foot of Marischal-street, to a group of small islands
now united and called the Inches.
The entrance of Market-street into Union-street
is adorned with piazzas. The Market-house stands
on the west side of Market-street, and is unequalled,
for extent, design, and finish, by any structure of
its class in Scotland. It was projected by a joint-
stock company, and opened in April 1842. It mea-
sures 315 feet in length, 106 feet in breadth, and 45
feet in height; and is divided into a basement floor,
a main floor, and galleries, with a wide and deep
flight of steps leading down to the first; and is also
divided into three alleys by two ranges of massive
pillars; and has in its centre a large fountain of
finely polished granite. — The Post-office stands on
the east side of Market-street, and is a building of
1841, erected with the aid of £2,000 from govern-
ment. — The Corn-exehange is in Hadden-street,
south of Market-street, and consists of a large hall
with committee-room ; and, except during market-
hours on Fridays, the hall is occupied as a public
news-room. — The office of the North of Scotland
Banking Company stands in Castle-street, adjacent
to the east side of the town-house tower, and is an
elegant structure of dressed granite, built in 1839
at a cost of £14,000, with a Corinthian portico, in
a minuteness and delicacy of execution which no
previous granite building ever displayed. — The
office of the Union Banking Company stands in
the same street, on the opposite side, and is a chaste
handsome building. — The Athenseum or Public
Newsroom, stands at the west end of Castle-street,
and is an elegant structure, erected in 1822. It is
liberally supplied with newspapers and periodicals.
— A handsome club-house, on the same principle as
the London clubs, is in Market-street. — The Aber-
deen Town and Count}'- Bank stands at the junction
of St. Nicholas-street with Union-street; was erect-
ed in 1863, at a cost of £14,000; is a splendid edi-
fice, in the Roman classic style; and has a telling-
room, surmounted by a fine dome, beautifully
lighted, and altogether one of the finest rooms of
its kind in Scotland. — The Advocates' hall is in
Union-street, west of the churchyard. — The Com-
mercial Bank and the County Record office are in
King-street. — The theatre is in Marischal-street. —
The chief hotels of the city are the Royal, Douglas's,
St. Nicholas, the Lemon-Tree, Forsyth's Temper-
ance, the Queen's, the Adelphi, and the City; and,
in a general view, they are situated pretty near the
centre of the town.
The Infirmary is a large, modern, splendid Gre-
cian building, erected at different dates, and at a
great expense. It consists of a centre and two
wings, and contains accommodation for 2 1 patients.
It has twenty large, lofty, well-aired wards, and
eleven smaller apartments for cases requiring separ-
ate treatment ; and contains every kind of con-
venience which can be found in the most approved
hospitals in the empire. Behind the main hospital,
and within the grounds, are a convalescent hospital,
and accommodation for fever patients; also a pa-
thological museum, under the superintendence of a
well-qualified curator. The students of the Aber-
deen medical school, who have in late years taken
a very high rank in competitions for army medical
appointments, walk the hospital ; and several of
the professors are Infirmary physicians and sur-
geons. — The Lunatic Asylum stands about half-a-
mile north-west of the city ; has grounds extending
to about 45 acres, tastefully laid out and richly
wooded ; and has been constituted a district asylum
for the county of Aberdeen. The main building
was erected in 1819, at a cost of £13,135 ; of which
£10,000 was a bequest by John Forbes of Newe;
but, with the exception of that bequest, it was
built, and has been maintained, by public contri-
butions A new building, called Elmhill House, for
private patients, was erected in 1862, at a cost of
£20,000 ; and is a handsome edifice in the Italian
villa style, with its rooms comfortably and even ele-
gantly fitted up in the manner of a private man-
sion. The pleasantly retired situation of the build-
ings, and the high professional character of the
resident medical superintendent, Dr. Jamieson, have
secured for the asylum a large measure of public
favour and support. The average number of pa-
tients during the year 1864-5 was 360. The Hall
of the Medical Society stands in King-street. It
was built in 1820, and contains a large library and
a museum.
The Grammar School has long held a high place
among the institutions of Aberdeen, both for its
antiquity and for the character of the education
given within its walls. It can be traced back as
far as 1418 ; and, under its modern rectors, particu-
larly the late Dr. Melvin, one of the first Latinists
of his day, it has enjoyed a high reputation as a
classical school. Till 1863, its buildings, which
were of a very unpretentious character, stood in
School Hill; but in that year, under the auspices of
Sir Alexander Anderson, Lord Provost, to whom the
city owes many of its improvements, a new edifice
was built in Skene-street-west, at a cost of £15,000;
and this is a very handsome structure, in the old
Scotch baronial style, with fine public school and
superior class-rooms. The course of instruction
also has been expanded. While formerly there
were only a rector and three classical masters, there
are now likewise teachers of mathematics, of Eng-
lish, and of modern languages ; and the curriculum
extends over five or alternately six years. — Gordon's
Hospital confronts the School Hill. This is an in-
stitution of similar origin and character to Heriot's
Hospital in Edinburgh. It comprises a handsome
central building, erected in 1739 at the expense of
£3,300, and two wings, with neat connecting colon-
nade, erected in 1834, at the expense of about
£14,000, and has a lawn in front. Robert Gordon,
merchant in Aberdeen, by deed of mortification, of
date 13th December, 1729, and 19th September,
1730, founded this hospital for the maintenance
and education of indigent boys, being the sons and