20. Architecture—(_c_) Municipal.

After a period of declining taste in architecture, a revival began early in the nineteenth century under the guidance of architects of genius such as Archibald Simpson and John and William Smith. A great improvement was thereby effected in the general aspect of the city of Aberdeen, and their good work has been enhanced by that of their successors. It is necessary to repeat that it was long before the local granite came to its own. The earlier buildings of importance were all of sandstone; to-day he would be a bold architect who suggested a sandstone building in Aberdeen. The use of granite exercises an indirect effect on architectural design. It lends itself to broad, classic, monumental and dignified effects, while its stubborn quality is a check against over-exuberance of detail, and fanciful, gimcrack trivialities. The plainness of the buildings was often remarked upon by strangers twenty years ago. The newer buildings are not without adornment.

The County and Municipal Buildings (or the Town-House as it is familiarly called) on the south side of Castle Street were opened in 1870. They form a magnificent pile which takes a high place amongst provincial town-halls, as regards both vigour and originality of treatment. The line of elliptical arches on the ground floor and of small arcaded windows in the floor above make an imposing front. The great tower, which rises to a height of 200 feet and dominates the whole city, hasthe castellated turrets which we have seen to be characteristic of Scottish architecture. It is curious to see how latter-day architects have not been able to get away from this feature. It is conspicuous even in such buildings as the Grammar School and the new Post Office. The Municipal tower, if somewhat heavy-looking, is on the whole effective. The small tower and spire on the east is the old Tolbooth tower, of the seventeenth century, preserved by being incorporated in the modern building.

Municipal Buildings, Aberdeen, and Town Cross

The next public building that should be mentioned is Marischal College, recently enlarged at a cost of nearly

Marischal College, Aberdeen

£250,000. This is undoubtedly the finest piece of modern architecture in the north of Scotland, and one of the most handsome and graceful in the kingdom. The College at the end of the nineteenth century was a work of the Gothic revival occupying three sides of a quadrangle, with a tower in the centre of one side. This tower has been remodelled and greatly heightened so that it is now a rival to the Municipal tower in the same street. It is known as the Mitchell tower, in compliment to the donor, the late Mr Charles Mitchell of Newcastle, whose name is also associated with the public or graduation Hall of the University. The old frontage of Marischal College was a desultory line of commonplace houses, throughwhich by a narrow gateway entrance was gained to the quadrangle. These have all been cleared away and now a stately pile bristling with ornate pinnacles that sparkle in the sun fills the whole length of 400 feet.

No less impressive than the delicately chiselled front is the back view of the College from West North Street, where a dip in the ground displays to advantage the great mass of building, the Mitchell Hall with its great Gothic window, its angle-turrets and lofty buttresses.

The Northern Assurance Office stands at the angle between Union Street and Union Terrace. The clean surface and clear-cut lines of the granite masonry are very pleasant to the eye. Union Terrace contains some of the best modern buildings in the city—the Grand Hotel, the Aberdeen Savings Bank, which though very simple is an admirable specimen of a front specially designed for granite; the Offices of the Parish Council and the School Board, original and striking, the Public Library, the United Free South Church with its graceful dome, and His Majesty’s Theatre—all serve to illustrate the changes that are being rung on granite fronts in recent years.

The contrast between these more ornate buildings and the severely classic simplicity of the Music Hall, a square block with a portico of Ionic pillars, belonging to the early nineteenth century, shows what a change in sentiment has taken place. The feature of all the Aberdeen architecture is the careful, conscientious workmanship, which always gives the impression of lasting solidity. The material is so irresponsive that without hard labour, no effect is produced.

Union Terrace and Gardens, before widening of Bridge

Grammar School, Aberdeen

We can do no more than mention some of the other notable edifices in the city. The Grammar School, erected in 1863, is a successful application of castellated Gothic to a modern building—all the more effective that it is well set back from the street. The contiguous Art School and Art Gallery are modern buildings, each with an order of columns and a pediment which break the long low line of the façade. The elliptical arch that unites

Gordon’s College, Aberdeen

them gives access to Gordon’s College, the centre portion of which is a piece of sober eighteenth century work. The wings and colonnades were added subsequently. The Head Office of the North of Scotland and Town and County Bank at the top of King Street has its entrance porch at the angle with a colonnade of pillars. Near it is the Town Cross, a hexagonal erection with Ionic columns and a tapering shaft rising from the centre of the roof, with a heraldic unicorn as terminal. It dates from the end of the seventeenth century. In the panels of the balustrade are half-length portraits of Scottish and British Kings (including the seven Jameses). It is a fine example

Bridge of Don, from Balgownie

of its class and was the work of a local mason. The royal portraits are real and authentic. The Ionic screen or façade between Union Street and the city churches gives some idea of the severely classic architecture that was the vogue in Aberdeen nearly a century ago.

Old Bridge of Dee, Aberdeen

A word must be said about the chief bridges. Union Bridge has a span of 130 feet, and was built in 1802 to facilitate the making of Union Street. It was originally narrower than the street and has recently been widened to meet the requirements of increased traffic. The Bridge of Don (Balgownie), probably built early in the fourteenth century if not earlier, throws its one Gothic arch over the deep contracted stream of the river. A smallbequest in the seventeenth century for its maintenance has been so well husbanded that out of its accumulations the cost of the new Bridge (£17,000), and other buildings has been defrayed, and the capital value of the fund—called the Bridge of Don fund—is to-day £26,500. The new bridge, much nearer the sea and with five arches, was designed by Telford and completed in 1830. The Old Bridge of Dee (with seven arches) was founded by Bishop Elphinstone and completed in 1527 by Bishop Gavin Dunbar. In 1842 it was widened 11-1/2 feet. The New (Victoria) Bridge, a continuation of Market Street, was opened in 1882, since when quite a new and populous city has sprung up on the south side of the river, entirely eclipsing the old fishing village of Torry which formerly monopolised this side of the water.

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