Description

James Mathews and Alexander Marshall Mackenzie, circa 1886. 3-storey and attic, 11-bay range of Classical commercial and residential buildings with Scots Baronial detailing on gently sloping site. Composition balanced by near-symmetrical arrangement of crowstepped gables breaking wall-head at central and outer bays. Stugged granite ashlar; finely tooled, chamfered openings. Shops to ground; stepped cill course at 2nd floor; moulded blocking course; shallow, castelated cornice. Corbelled-out, stone-roofed shallow canted oriels with tripartite windows at 2nd floor and attic; crowstepped gables with rose and thistle finials. Tripartite 'candle-snuffer' capped dormers to 8 remaining bays.

Plate glass timber sash and case windows throughout; grey slate; lead flashing to ridge and dormers caps; broad, corniced ashlar stacks; clay cans. Recessed cast iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: Dog-leg stair with cast-iron banister and timber handrail to communal inner stair. Retains some original fireplaces, presently boxed in at first floor commercial premises (2006).

Statement of Interest

Nos 8-26 Schoolhill make a significant contribution to the run of buildings that make up the stretch of Upperkirkgate and Schoolhill. In its raised position towards the top of the hill, it overlooks the St Nicholas Kirk Burial ground. Formerly known as the 'Wordie Buildings', 8-26 Schoolhill was designed by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie soon after the completion of his Aberdeen Art Gallery and associated buildings also situated on Schoolhill. Mackenzie is one of Classical Aberdeen's most prominent architects, responsible for a number of its most celebrated buildings included the Neo-Gothic additions to Marischal College. The Baronial details at Nos 8-26 are uncommon among Mackenzie's output, while there are few Baronial buildings within central Aberdeen in general. The design of the building appears partly in the manner of Edinburgh's Cockburn Street while following the style of the houses that occupied Schoolhill in earlier times. A central pend once located at the centre of the ground floor now contains a public house infill named the 'Wordie Alehouse' in acknowledgement of the building's origins.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17779618

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

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  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
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  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
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  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
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