Streets and Buildings
Roughly, the extended city runs north and south. From the new bridge of Don to the "auld brig" of Dee there is tramway* (see note below) communication via King Street, Union Street and Holburn Road--a distance of over five miles. Union Street is one of the most imposing thoroughfares in Britain. From Castle Street it runs W. S. W. for nearly a mile (1.5 km), is 70 ft (21 m) wide, and contains the principal shops and most of the modern public buildings, all of granite. Part of the street crosses the Denburn ravine (utilized for the line of the Great North of Scotland railway) by a fine granite arch of 132 ft (40 m) span, portions of the older town still fringing the gorge, fifty feet below the level of Union Street.
Amongst the more conspicuous secular buildings in the street may be mentioned the Town and County Bank, the Music Hall, with sitting accommodation for 2000 persons, the Trinity Hall of the incorporated trades (originating in various years between 1398 and 1527, and having charitable funds for poor
members, widows and orphans), containing some portraits by George Jamesone, a noteworthy set of carved oak chairs, dating from 1574, and the shieldss of the crafts with quaint inscriptions; the office of the Aberdeen Free Press, one of the most influential paperss in the north of Scotland; the Palace
Hotel; the office of the Northern Assurance Company, and the National Bank of Scotland. In Castle Street, a continuation eastwards of Union Street, are situated the Municipal and County Buildings, one of the most splendid granite edifices in Scotland, in the Franco-Scottish Gothic style, built in 1867-1878. They are of four stories and contain the great hall with an open timber ceiling and oak-panelled walls; the Sheriff Court House; the Town Hall, with excellent portraits of Prince Albert (Prince Consort), the 4th earl of Aberdeen, the various lord provosts and other distinguished citizens. In the vestibule of the entrance corridor stands a suit of black armour believed to have been worn by Provost Sir Robert Davidson, who fought in the Battle of Harlaw, near Inverurie, in 1411. From the south-western corner a grand tower rises to a height of 210 ft (64 m), commanding a fine view of the city and surrounding country. Adjoining the municipal buildings is the North of Scotland Bank, of Greek design, with a portico of Corinthian columns, the capitals of which are exquisitely carved. On the opposite side of the street is the fine building of the Union Bank. At the upper end of Castle Street stands the Salvation Army Citadel, an effective castellated mansion, the most imposing "barracks" possessed anywhere by this organization. In front of it is the Market Cross, a beautiful, open-arched, hexagonal structure, 21 ft (6.4 m) in diameter and 18 ft (5.5 m) high. The original was designed in 1682 by John Montgomery, a native architect, but in 1842 it was removed hither from its old site and rebuilt in a better style. On the entablature surmounting the Ionic columns are panels containing medallions of Scots sovereigns from James I to James VII. From the centre rises a shaft, 12.5 ft (3.8 m) high, with a Corinthian capital on which is the royal unicorn rampant. On an eminence east of Castle Street are the military barracks. In Market Street are the Mechanics' Institution, founded in 1824, with a good library; the Post and Telegraph offices; and the market, where provisions of all kinds and general wares are sold. The Fish Market, on the Albert Basin, is a busy scene in the early morning. The art gallery and museum at Schoolhill, built in the Italian Renaissance style of red and brown granite, contains an excellent collection of pictures, the Macdonald Hall of portraits of contemporary artists by themselves being of altogether exceptional interest and unique of its kind in Great Britain. The public library, magnificently housed, contains more than 60,000 volumes. The theatre in Guild Street is the chief seat of dramatic, as the Palace Theatre in Bridge Place is of variety entertainment. The new buildings of Marischal College fronting Broad Street, opened by King Edward VII in 1906, form one of the most splendid examples of modern architecture in Great Britain; the architect, Alexander Marshall Mackenzie, a native of Aberdeen, having adapted his material, white granite, to the design of a noble building with the originality of genius.
- there is no tramway in Aberdeen. The last tram went through the streets on 3 May 1958. All trams except one were scrapped. The last tram is on display in the Transport Museum in Alford, Aberdeenshire.
