Old Town Treasure

Posted on by Felines and Fiction

Explore Old Aberdeen and the heart of the city’s history. Below are the highlights of Aberdeen City Council’s Old Aberdeen Trail with additions, find out more at aberdeencity.gov.uk/trails

St Margaret’s Chapel and Convent, 17 Spital
(consecrated in 1892)

A large stone chapel with long ornate windows behind trees

Old Aberdeen Bookshop, 140 Spital

A treasure trove of golden genius, where prose meets poetry, where the intellectual greets the inspirational.

towering shelves of multicoloured books
shelves of books

Powis Gates (erected by John Leslie of Powis, 1833-4)

turreted circular columns above a crested archway and gate

Snow Kirk

The remains of a parish church from the late 1400s, when Old Aberdeen became a Burgh of Barony.

A cross towers over a gravestone
Three old grey gravestones against a wall

Bishop Elphinstone

A bronze and marble monument to Bishop Elphinstone (1431 to 1514), a key political player who was instrumental to both the conception of King’s College and the launch of the Burgh of Barony.

A soft green monument with the supine profile of a man on top and angels beneath
The sculpture of an angel with short curly hair, wings and flowing robes

Youth with Split Apple sculpture

By Kenny Hunter. In front of New King’s College.

A bronze sculpture of a man sitting with one leg crossed and one with raised knee. There is a tree behind and old buildings behind and to the right.

Sir Duncan Rice Library

University of Aberdeen’s iconic library – designed by Danish architects schmidt hammer lassen – stuns both within and without.

A cube shaped building with a design of wavy lines across its front
The view of a space between rising floors

Evolutionary Loop 517

A bronze sculpture in front of the Library, created by artist Nasser Azam.

A large bronze sculpture depicting intertwining loops

Waterlines

A sculpture based on a nineteenth century Aberdonian fast sailing ship, indeed believed to the the fastest sailing ship ever constructed: Thermopylae. By artists Marian Leven and Will Maclean.

Two tall thin grey columns featuring engraved lines and curved at the top.

No 81 High Street

Dating from 1771, this is the townhouse of the family of McLean of Coll.

A stately house with two chimneys on either side, four grid windows and a larger central grid window beneath an ornate triangle structure and with a red door below. A circular drive surrounds a grass feature.

Wrights’ and Coopers’ Place

An old stone house with shrubs and trees against its walls
A bright pink flowering tree

MacRobert Memorial Garden

A garden to commemorate Lady MacRobert, widow of Sir Alexander MacRobert Baronet, and their three sons.

A green orb sculpture in a pond
On a grey wall there is a painting of a red crest including three wolf heads, two thistles and three red animal heads with wings around them

Mercat Cross and Townhouse

A three storey stone building with grid windows and a clock tower on top
A small stone pillar with a fragment of the original Mercat cross on top

Chanonry

A serene step back in time style street named after its origins as home to the canons (clergy) of St Machar’s Cathedral.

A cobbled street with trees on either side

St Machar’s Cathedral

A cathedral building with spire and curved windows
Two square buildings stand on each side of the cathedral entrance

See also:

Cruickshank Botanic Gardens (entrance on the Chanonry)

Seaton Park (entrance next to St Machar’s Cathedral)

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Published by Felines and Fiction

An ardent cat lover and creative writer from Scotland.