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Well of Spa
175 In 1615 Dr. William Barclay wrote a treatise extolling the virtues of the Well of Spa and commending the use of its waters to invalids. Then George Jamesone, the artist, while suffering from calculus of the bladder found relief from the mineral qualities of the well. At the beginning of the 20th century, the well was removed and re-erected inside the wall of the old Royal Infirmary at Woolmanhill and water was introduced into it from another source. Later it was moved to a nearby site behind Aberdeen Central Library, beside the Denburn Car Park. The Firhill Well, Old Aberdeen
329 The Firhill Well stood at the bend of a lane leading from what now is Sunnybank Road to what now is Bedford Road. It takes its name from being located near a fir-clad hill. It is not known who built the well but it was in existance as early as 1799. This photograph was taken in 1890. Fidler's Well, Guild Street
422 A horse drinking from Fidler's Well on Guild Street. The well, dedicated to Dr William Guild, was erected in 1857 by Alexander Fidler, coal broker. Originally intended for horses, it later had 2 iron cups attached to it. Fidler died in 1885 but his well remained in Guild Street until 1957 when it was moved to Duthie Park. It was relocated again in 2002 to the corner of Holburn Street and Great Western Road. Fountainhall Well
635 This small cistern house was erected in connection with Aberdeen's first city water supply. Water had previously been obtained from the Loch but by 1706 it had become polluted and lead pipes were laid to bring water from Carden's Haugh Well. Six cisterns or fountain-houses were built along the old Fountainhall Road and water was conveyed from these sources to the Water House in Broad Street until 1866. A new scheme was eventually introduced and in 1903 the Fountainhall Well was taken from its original site and rebuilt in Duthie Park. Well of Spa
636 In 1615 Dr. William Barclay wrote a treatise extolling the virtues of the Well of Spa and commending the use of its waters to invalids. Then George Jamesone, the artist, while suffering from calculus of the bladder found relief from the mineral qualities of the well. At the beginning of the 20th. century the well was removed and re-erected inside the wall of the old Royal Infirmary, Woolmanhill and water was introduced into it from another source. Later it was moved to a nearby site behind Aberdeen City Library. The Corbie Well
637 The Corbie Well, deriving its title from the fact that a large rookery colony existed among the trees that covered the bank of the Denburn Valley, near where the well stood. The Corbie Well was rebuilt in a different form when the Union Terrace Gardens were laid out in 1877. Mannie in the Green
638 Mannie in the Green. This well was erected in the Castlegate in 1706 in connection with the first regular water supply in Aberdeen. In 1852, it was removed to this site in the Green, where it remained until the 1950s when it was removed for storage. It was re-erected in the Castlegate in the 1970s. St. John's Well
642 St. John's Well, situated at the foot of Skene Row, on property once owned by the Knights of St. John. The spring was cleaned, and the stone well built by the Police Commissioners in 1852. On the construction of Rosemount Viaduct in 1885, the well was moved a few yards and Dee water was introduced. The Latin inscription is by Dr. Melvin, of the Grammar School, and reads "St. John's Well. Restored by the Curators of Public Works. 1852" Library Fountain
688 Library Fountain which stood adjacent to the original Central Library building. It was removed to make way for the extension which housed the Commercial Library, later known as the Business and Technical Department and subsequently as the Media Centre. Mannie in the Green
789 The Well in the Green historically important from being connected with the fiirst introduction of a regular water supply into the city in 1706. It stood originally in Castle Street. It was taken down about 1840 but then re-erected in the Green in 1852. It is now to be found in the Castlegate opposite the Town House. Chaplainry Well
1848 Chaplainry Well stood at the foot of the Chanonry near its junction with Don Street. It disappeared in 1888 on the introduction of an improved distribution of the water supply. St John's Well
1849 St John's Well was situated at the junction of Skene Row and the Hardweird. Originally it was located on a grassy bank which led down from the bottom of Skene Row to Upper Denburn. The well took its name from being in a bit of land given for the support of a Chaplain of St. John the Evangelist in St Nicholas Church. St. Fittick's Well
1853 A photograph from 1906 of St. Fittick's Well, located in the Bay of Nigg.
An account of the well is given by Thomas W. Ogilvie (1861-1908) in The Book of Saint Fittick, a history of Torry, written and presented as a Bazaar Book to Saint Fittick's Church, Torry, in December 1901.
Ogilvie worked as a doctor in Torry for seven years and was prominent in the public life of the district. An account of his life is given in the introduction to a posthumously published collection of his verse, Poems (1911).
Ogilvie suggests use the well dates to pagan times and gives an account of its storied healing powers and the tradition of offering gifts in the hope of good health and fortune. He suggests St Fittick, the patron saint of Torry, became the object of these benefactions after the arrival of Christianity.
He details the tradition of visiting the area and leaving gifts on the first Sunday of May. Ogilvie writes:
"Town Council and Kirk Session struggled by laws and punishments to stop those Sunday wanderings and to efface those vestiges of old superstitions, but the customs of centuries die hard, and to-day young and old, to whom the name St. Fittick is a meaningless term and the repute of his well quite unknown, ramble on Sundays and week-days to the bay once called by his name, and they find the old power still lingers, for the beauty of the Bay, the fresh sea-breeze, and the pure draught from the old spring still bless and heal."
The well is understood to have been washed away by coastal erosion in the early 20th century. Its location, latterly its site, is recorded in old large scale Ordnance Survey maps. Corbie Well
1855 The Corbie Well, deriving its title from the fact that a large rookery colony existed among the trees that covered the bank of the Denburn Valley, near where the well stood. The wall and fence seen above the well are the gardens of Denburn Terrace. The Corbie Well was rebuilt in a different form when the Union Terrace Gardens were laid out in 1877.
Correspondent Ed Fowler provides more information on the later history of the well:
"The older well was replaced in 1898 by an outlet in a plain granite ashlar wall. An inscription - 'Renewed 1856' - from the old well was removed during later modernisation, and until the 1960s the wall supported one of the stone pillar lamp-posts from the 1747 Bow Brig surmounted by the weather-vane from the steeple of old St Nicholas Kirk." Fountainhall Cistern
2090 Water was conveyed from six springs at Fountainhall to the Water House in Broad Street. Above is the last of these six cistern houses in which the spring water was collected. It was removed in 1903 to the Duthie Park. Taylor Well
2607 A postcard of the Taylor Well in Woodside's Stewart Park. The photograph features two young women, one with a bicycle. There is also a man standing atop the well.
The ornate granite fountain installed in 1906. It is in memory of Jean Taylor who, in 1891, bequeathed £500 for the creation of a playpark in Woodside. The fountain was based on a cast held in the Art Gallery's collection and was sculpted by Arthur Taylor of Jute Street.
See the Aberdeen Daily Journal, 10th May 1906, page 7, for an account of its origin and completion. Fidler's Well
2737 A photograph showing a horse drinking from Fidler's Well in Guild Street. The image is taken from the Evening Express of 13th September 1929. It was accompanied by an article detailing the visit to Aberdeen of the grandson of the well's benefactor, Alexander Fidler. The grandson, who lived in Chicago, had visited the public library and learnt much about his ancestor and the well from G. M. Fraser and then visited the Evening Express office.
The article contains information on Dr William Guild, to whom the well is dedicated, Alexander Fidler and his brother John, who ran a well known pie-shop on Shiprow.
The wording on the well's granite basin reads "Dedicated to Dr William Guild. Died 1657. Lammas, A. F."
The inscription on the cast iron fountain is as follows:
"Fountainhall, 1st August 1857.
Water springs for man and beast,
At your service I am here;
Although six thousand years of age,
I am caller, clean, and clear.
Erected for the inhabitants of The World
by
Alexander Fidler."
In this image the well is shown at its 2nd location, outside the Goods Station and opposite what was the Balmoral Temperance Hotel & Restaurant. Elephant at Fidler's Well
2738 A photograph of a elephant drinking from Fidler's Well on Guild Street. The image featured in the Press & Journal of 14th May 1929 on their photograph page. It was captioned "Jumbo has a last drink" and suggested the elephant was shortly leaving Aberdeen. The animal was likely part of a circus travelling by train.
The well was at this time located on the south side of Guild Street near its junction with Market Street. The distinctive stonework of the Tivoli Theatre can just be seen on the right of this image. Fidler's Well
2739 A photograph showing a horse drinking from Fidler's Well from the Press & Journal, 14th November 1933.
The image, that featured on their picture page, was captioned "The fountain in Guild Street, Aberdeen, near the foot of Market Street, erected to the memory of Dr William Guild, founder of Trinity Hall."
The buildings at the junction with Market Street can be seen in the background. Well of Spa
3108 A photograph of the Well of Spa in around 1969 at its second location, on Spa Street, in the western periphery wall of Woolmanhill Infirmary. This site is still identifiable today by the curving recess in the low wall and the now leveled out supporting wall, both shown in this image.
A digital copy of this image was kindly given to Aberdeen Local Studies by our colleagues in the Masterplanning, Design and Conservation Team.
It was the then Department of Planning and Building Control that oversaw the restoration and relocation of the structure to its current site outside Denburn Car Park in 1976/77. The plans were drawn up by Aberdeen City Council planner John Soutar. In reference to the well's Woolmanhill location he was quoted in the newspaper saying "The Victorians were great for shifting things and they weren't fussy where they put them."
The stone structure, which was built in around 1635, was previously located on the western side of Spa Street, in front of Garden-Nook Close. This location can be viewed on the 1867 Ordnance Survey town plan of Aberdeen (sheet LXXV.11.12) and in other photographs on this site.
The 1970s restoration and relocation of the well was advocated by councillor Frank Magee. The project, estimated to cost £4,500, was met with opposition and it was only given the go-ahead after considerable debate.
The restoration of the well was carried out by a masonry firm, based in Birnie, called Moray Stonecutters. It was temporarily transported to Elgin for the work. An additional £4,500 was spent in the creation of a new garden surrounding the well by a Job Creation team. It was called the Four Neukit Garden in reference to the old amenity gifted to Aberdeen, along with the original stone structure, by the portrait painter George Jamesone.
Coverage of work on the well can be read in local newspapers from the time. The finishing touches on the well's final relocation were reported in the Evening Express of Saturday, 22nd October 1977, page 16. Wallace Tower
402 An illustration showing the Wallace Tower and the Netherkirkgate. The structure in the foreground is likely the Netherkirkgate Well. Some speculate that the origins of the name Wallace Tower may be in a corruption of "Well House".
This reproduction was included as a supplement to the Aberdeen Weekly Journal of Wednesday 28th March 1906. |