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Schoolhill from St. Nicholas Churchyard
120 This photograph taken in 1880 from St. Nicholas Churchyard looks north showing a row of houses which stood between it and Schoolhill.
These houses were demolished around 1884 as part of an improvement scheme to widen Schoolhill - named after the old Grammar School which stood nearby.
A dwarf wall with ornamental railings was erected in place of these buildings and a porter's lodge was removed from Robert Gordon's College to form a lodge for the sexton at the entrance to the churchyard.
The book Aberdeen in Byegone Days: Views of Streets and Buildings, etc. with Letterpress Description (1910) by Robert Anderson (page 26) suggests that the building in the centre of this image was the home of Burnett Carr, the grave-digger and assistant to the sexton of St. Nicholas Church.
Newspaper references indicate that Carr, a well known figure, died on 31st May 1844 (Aberdeen Journal, 5th June 1844, page 3, column 2).
This photograph looks north and shows the back of Carr's old house. Dyer's Hall Lane
685 A photograph looking north-west across Dyer's Hall Lane in 1904.
This lane and row of cottages were situated south of Union Street near the Hardgate at what was soon to become Willowbank Road.
Some of these cottages were thought to date to before 1789. Though some would be more recent than that. The lane's name derives from when the old Dyers' Association met there.
The houses were roofed with red pantiles which were replaced with asbestos when the roofs began to leak. They had outside stairs to the upper floors and water taps outside the door.
The Town Council felt that it would be too costly to preserve the cottages despite their historic interest. They were among the few remaining examples of 18th century houses in the city.
They were demolished in 1956 to make way for extensions to the Station Garage.
The tall chimney in the background likely belonged to the nearby North of Scotland Distillery (formerly known as the Bon-Accord Distillery).
Dyer's Hall Lane was replaced by Willowbank Road in around 1906. This was the first part of a new thoroughfare, incorporating Springbank Terrace, that would connect Holburn Street to Wellington Road (later South College Street).
An article detailing the improvement scheme can be found in the Aberdeen Daily Journal of 21st March 1906 on page 4. Portland Street at the junction with Wellington Road
1533 A photograph showing the house that was located at the junction of Portland Street and Wellington Road. It can be seen on the Ordnance Survey 1867 Aberdeen town plan, sheet LXXV.15.3.
This image looks north and gives a good view of the building that is thought to have once been the home of Provost George Auldjo of Portlethen (1756-1806). He followed his father, John Auldjo, in running the brick and tiles works in the Clayworks, located to the rear of this house.
The brick and tile works exploited the large amount of clay in the area. By the late 1860s the clay pits were ceasing to be worked. The Clayhills area was consequently leased out for yards and works of various kinds.
The building visible on the right is likely the preserved provision works which was active for only one or two years before moving to South Mount Street.
This house was demolished, and the area radically altered, with the road and railway improvement scheme that finished in 1904. This was carried out by the railway companies as part of the Joint Station extension scheme.
The improvements saw the construction of the lower part of South College Street, which would run through the Clayhills area.
For more details on the Clayhills brick and tile works and the roadworks see G. M. Fraser's article 'Affleck Street and the Clayhills' in The Press and Journal, 16th July 1926, page 4 and the article 'Ferryhill Street Improvements' in The Aberdeen Daily Journal, 24th October 1904, page 4. Aberdeen Sailors' Mission and Home
2751 The granite facade of the Aberdeen Sailors' Mission and Home building, built in 1893-95, that has been retained and incorporated into a large residential development on Mearns Street. This appears to be all that remains of the building.
The eastern elevation we can see here was part of a three block extension to the institute designed by architect James Souttar. There was also an entrance to the building on James Street. A preview of the opening of the building, with a detailed description of it, can be read in the Aberdeen Journal of 26th September 1895, page 7.
Queen Elizabeth II's first solo opening ceremony was the Aberdeen Sailor's Home, after it was reconstructed, on 3rd October 1944.
Also of local interest in this image is a car from the well-known firm Panda Rosa Metals. This family business specialise in ferrous and non-ferrous metal recycling and have been operating in Aberdeen for many decades.
Mearns Street, originally running from Regent Quay to Virginia Street, was constructed on the site of a previous thoroughfare called Pork Lane. This was described as a narrow lane of congested tenements and had a reputation for ill-health and crime.
Post Office directories indicate that Pork Lane was demolished in around 1885-86 and that Mearns Street was established by 1887-88. This development was part of a programme called the Shorelands Scheme of Improvements.
In October 1886, the Improvement Committee of Aberdeen Town Council recommended the name of the new street in compliment to the master of shore works who had initiated the improvement scheme, Daniel Mearns (Aberdeen Weekly Journal, 23rd October 1886, page 4).
Mearns (1838-1913) was a shipping merchant, councillor for the St. Clements Ward, active in the Aberdeen Harbour Board and went on to serve as Aberdeen's Lord Provost between 1895 and 1898. George Street
3855 A photograph from around 1986 looking south east and showing Home Charm, home improvement centre, on the east side of George Street. This shop and the surrounding buildings were shortly to be demolished to make way for the Bon Accord Centre. Rules and Regulations of the Mutual Instruction Class of the Aberdeen Mechanics' Institution
150 Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute was founded in 1824 to satisfy the public's thirst of knowledge. Courses of lectures were offered on philosophical, scientific, technical and art subjects.
This document, written by Al. Russell, Secretary, the 11th May 1836, gives the rules of the Mutual instruction class which was created.
Aberdeen Mechanics' Institute - Winter session
155 By 1832, the usefulness of the institution was widened by the starting of evening classes bearing on the subject of lectures.
The Mechanics' Institute delivered classes on drawing, arithmetic, mathematics, English grammar, French, Philosophy and "Mutual instruction". Treasure 111: Aberdeen Artists' Society
332 The celebration of art in Aberdeen can be traced through the collection of exhibition catalogues held in our Local Studies department, including those of the Aberdeen Artists' Society from its early years to the present, through to those produced by modern galleries, local art groups and societies, Gray's School of Art and more recently the directory produced for the North East Open Studios.
The origins of Aberdeen Artists' Society date back to 1827 when a group of artists resident in Aberdeen "resolved to associate themselves for the purpose of mutual improvement in Painting and the furtherance of the Art generally, in Aberdeen" and hold "An Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures and Designs". The artists in question included James Giles who was President, Alexander Fraser, Vice-President and James Troup, Secretary. Other members included Archibald Simpson.
The Aberdeen Artists' Society are working with Aberdeen Art Gallery on a new program of exhibitions after the Gallery re-opens in 2017 and the annual exhibition will return in 2018/19.
Check out our Treasures from our Collections interactive display to find out more about the history of Aberdeen Artists' Society. Aberdeen Harbour plans by John Smeaton
523 This plate of two coloured plans was included in the book The reports by Smeaton, Rennie, and Telford, upon the Harbour of Aberdeen. Printed and circulated by order of the Harbour Trustees (Aberdeen: G. Cornwall, Herald Office, 1834).
This volume contains two reports by Smeaton, dated 19th February 1770 and 22nd March 1799, respectively, plus a letter by him concerning the Harbour from the same date as the 2nd report.
The two plans are titled Plan of the Harbour of Aberdeen as it was in 1769 and Plan of the Harbour with its Alterations, as proposed 1787 by J. Smeaton.
Different versions of these plans can be found reproduced in the earlier book Reports of the late John Smeaton, F.R.S. made on various occasions, in the course of his employment as a civil engineer, volume III, (London, 1812). These other versions are also available to view on this website.
Smeaton, along with John Rennie and Thomas Telford, was a key engineer in the development of the modern harbour of Aberdeen. Smeaton's most crucial improvement was the construction of the North Pier, completed in around 1780.
A copy of The reports by Smeaton, Rennie, and Telford, upon the Harbour of Aberdeen. Printed and circulated by order of the Harbour Trustees (1834) is held by Aberdeen City Libraries in our Local Studies reserve stock. |