Aberdeen Town House

Aberdeen Town House is a municipal facility in Castle Street, Aberdeen, Scotland. The town house, which is the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council, is a Category A listed building.[1]

Aberdeen Town House
Aberdeen Town House
LocationAberdeen
Coordinates57.1481°N 2.0944°W / 57.1481; -2.0944
Built1874
ArchitectJohn Dick Peddie and Charles Kinnear
Architectural style(s)Scottish baronial style
Listed Building – Category A
Designated12 January 1967
Reference no.LB19990
Shown in Aberdeen

History
The old Town House in the High Street
Mortification boards inside the town house, detailing names of benefactors.

The building was commissioned to replace the old town house in the High Street which had been designed by George Jaffray in the Georgian style and completed in 1788.[2] After rapid population growth in the area, civic leaders decided that the old town house was inadequate for their needs and decided to find larger facilities; they selected a site on Castle Street which would allow them to incorporate the remaining part of an early 17th-century tolbooth.[1][3]

The new building was designed by John Dick Peddie and Charles Kinnear in the Scottish baronial style and was completed in 1874.[1][4] The design involved an asymmetrical frontage with fifteen bays along Castle Street; the central section of five bays featured segmental-arched arcading on the ground floor and double-height segmental-arched windows on the second and third floors; the western section incorporated a five-stage clock tower with a spire while the eastern section incorporated the southern elevation of the old tolbooth.[1] Internally, the principal room was the double-height council chamber.[1] The new town house served as the headquarters of Aberdeen Town Council until 1895, when that body was replaced by Aberdeen Corporation.[5]

King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra inspected a Guard of Honour from the 3rd Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders in front of the new town house on 27 September 1906.[6]

The building remained the Corporation's headquarters until it was replaced by Aberdeen District Council under the wider Grampian Regional Council in May 1975.[7] The foundation stone for an extension along Broad Street was laid by the Lord Provost, Robert Lennox, on 17 November 1975.[8] The extension which was designed by the city architects, I. A. Ferguson and T. C. Watson, was built by Taylor Woodrow Construction.[8] The complex then remained the Aberdeen District Council headquarters until the abolition of the Grampian Region led to the formation of Aberdeen City Council in April 1996.[9]

The whole complex was extensively refurbished at a cost of £4 million between August 2014 and March 2017.[10]

Works of art in the complex include a sculpture of Robert the Bruce by Anne Davidson showing the Scottish king in 14th-century armour carrying his shield and sword.[11][12]

References
  1. Historic Environment Scotland. "Aberdeen Town House including Municipal Offices, Council Chambers, Court Houses and Tolbooth, Castle Street and 2 Broad Street, Aberdeen  (Category A Listed Building) (LB19990)". Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  2. "Aberdeen, Old Aberdeen, High Street, Old Aberdeen Town House, Library". Canmore. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  3. "Ordnance Survey Map". 1871. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  4. "Aberdeen Town House". Gazetteer for Scotland. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  5. "Aberdeen Corporation". Grace's Guide. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  6. "Royal memento gifted to Aberdeen". Aberdeen City Council. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  7. "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  8. "Town House Extension Foundation Stone". Silver City Vault. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  9. "Civic Rooms". Aberdeen City Council. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  10. "Completion date on Aberdeen Town House pushed back again". Press and Journal. 24 December 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  11. "Obituary: Anne Davidson". The Scotsman. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  12. "Aberdeen City: Davidson Cultural & Sporting Links" (PDF). Clan Davidson Association. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
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