Description

Dated 1763. 3-storey and attic, 4 bay townhouse with later public house to ground floor sited on prominent corner location. Loanhead granite ashlar with raised margins.

Castle Street (N) Elevation: eaves course. Regular fenestration to 1st and 2nd floors. Canted dormers flanking nepus gable with two attic windows. Later, public house fascia at ground floor returns to Marischal Street with signage breaking window line at first storey.

Marischal Street (W) elevation: 5 bay with original door to centre bay blocked and multi-pane fixed tripartite window with stone mullions to far right. Substantial moulded eaves cornice with prominent triangular gable end above featuring moulded arch and shallow recess flanked by square attic windows.

Predominately 12-pane timber sash and case windows. Grey slates. Coped ashlar granite stacks to N, S and W gables; terracotta cans. Recessed cast-iron rain water goods.

INTERIOR: Blackfriars Public House, predominantly modernised, now internally linked to 5-9 Marischal Street, also listed at category B, at ground floor. 19th century gantry with later additions and alterations including stained glass thought to originate from demolished chapel near Aberdeen.

Statement of Interest

Part of B Group with Nos 9-23 (inclusive nos) Castle Street, Nos 31-35 (inclusive nos) and 40-48 (inclusive nos) Castle Street, 51 and 52 Castle Street and Salvation Army Citadel.

Occupying a prominent corner site at a crucial city centre location in the Castlegate, this building is a significant part of the streetscape and is a good example of later 18th century building. The Nepus gable is a traditional feature of early Scottish tenements and combined with the wide regularly spaced bays of the principal storeys, it prefigures the Classical style of architecture which was to dominate the character of Aberdeen in the 19th century.

Formed on the site of the Earl Marischal's lodging and linking Castlegate with the Harbour below, Marischal Street (designed by William Law, 1767) is of considerable historic interest in terms of the early development of Classical Aberdeen. Carried on embankments down a partly vaulted incline, it is the earliest example of this type of construction in Aberdeen, anticipating the larger scale development of Union Street and Edinburgh's South Bridge by 20 years. Originally having a fine granite bridge half way down, this was demolished and replaced in 1983 along with adjacent Nos 36-38 and 37-39 to allow the widening of Virginia Street below.

The buildings occupying the Southern half of the street are attributed to William Smith (d.1812), father of John Smith (the renowned Aberdeen architect - b.1781) and are generally grander and more varied. The street as a whole retains much of its refinement and original character despite the gradual move from domestic to commercial ownership throughout 19th century. It is thought to be the first street in Aberdeen paved with square granite sets.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17772911

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings