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Aberdeen, Guild Street, Joint Station

Railway Station (19th Century), Railway Station (20th Century), War Memorial (20th Century)

Site Name Aberdeen, Guild Street, Joint Station

Classification Railway Station (19th Century), Railway Station (20th Century), War Memorial (20th Century)

Alternative Name(s) Bridge Street; Aberdeen Joint Railway Station; Aberdeen (Joint) Station; Aberdeen Station; Bridge Street; Guild Street; Denburn Valley; War Memorial

Canmore ID 20038

Site Number NJ90NW 136

NGR NJ 94152 05889

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/20038

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Copyright and database right 2024.

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Digital Images


First 100 images shown. See the Collections panel (below) for a link to all digital images.

Administrative Areas

  • Council Aberdeen, City Of
  • Parish Aberdeen
  • Former Region Grampian
  • Former District City Of Aberdeen
  • Former County Aberdeenshire

Archaeology Notes

NJ90NW 136.00 94152 05889

NJ90NW 136.01 NJ c. 9410 0587 Aberdeen Joint Station, Aberdeen Centre signal box

NJ90NW 136.02 NJ 94066 05934 Aberdeen Guild Street Bridge

For adjacent Guild Street station and railway offices, see NJ90NW 209.

For (associated) Station Hotel at 74-8 Guild Street (NJ 941 060), see NJ90NW 317.

Joint Station [NAT]

OS (GIS) AIB, May 2006.

NMRS REFERENCE:

Aberdeen, Railway Station. (Joint Passenger)

Engineer: J. Lowson - reconstruction 1898-1912

EXTERNAL REFERENCE:

Register House. BR/LIB(S)/6 - 130 - 2.1/4 X 2.1/4 slides & notes on reconstruction of station.

Aberdeen, Railway Scheme.

Architect: Archibald Simpson projected scheme never carried out.

(Undated) information in NMRS.

(Location cited as NJ 942 058). Aberdeen Joint Station. Rebuilt 1913-20 by the Caledonian and Great North of Scotland Rlys. The last major Scottish railway station to be built. Formerly a 12-platform through and terminal station with a handsome classical 5-bay, 2-storey frontage. The booking hall has a pleasing curved, wood-panelled range of counters and unusual curved roof trusses. The main concourse has a ridged overall roof with curved roof trusses, and a well-designed train indicator board comparable with that at Glasgow Central (NS56NE 77.00). The platforms have steel-framed individual awnings, supported on cast-iron columns; those at the N end have been removed and some platforms closed.

J R Hume 1977.

The new travel centre opened in 1978 replacing the old panelled booking office and leaving some old woodwork still to be seen in the ladies waiting room. A further refit took place in the mid-1980's; this included marble panelling, terrazo flooring and a relocation of the station bookstall.

B Williams 1988.

This station was opened on 4 November 1867, replacing Aberdeen, Guild Street (NJ90NW 209) and Aberdeen, Ferryhill (NJ90NW 334). It was renamed Aberdeen by British Railways in 1952, and remains in regular use by passenger traffic.

R V J Butt 1995.

(Location cited as NJ 942 058). This station was modernised in the 1980s.

(Newspaper reference cited).

NMRS, MS/712/83.

Prior to the completion of renovations to Aberdeen Joint Station, RCAHMS carried out a full and extensive photographic survey, in May 1999. This included views within the station, exterior shots, and the booking hall roof, then hidden by a false ceiling.

Visited by RCAHMS (MKO), April 1999.

Air photographs. Aberdeen railway station and the Denburn area: AAS/00/08/CT.

NMRS, MS/712/100.

Activities

Publication Account (2007)

Joint Station, Aberdeen

The promoters of the Aberdeen Railway and the GNSR planned a joint station in the centre of Aberdeen. Although initial proposals were published in 1850, the year that the railway opened to the south, it was not until 1867 that an enlarged version was eventually built near the west side

of the harbour to the design of William Smith, city architect,with John Willet being responsible for the design and construction of the train-shed.

This station, said to be have been modelled on Victoria Station, London, had a magnificent arched roof 500 ft long and 102 ft wide. The facade was constructed of ashlar granite from Kemnay. The main walls were 30 ft high and were finished at the ends by square towers that added a further 20 ft to the height. The crown of the roof was 70 ft above ground level. The ironwork contractor was J. Abernethy and Co.

By 1911 a larger station was required and plans were made. This was a difficult task as disruption to the travelling public had to be avoided and the old station had to be demolished before constructing the new one. Work

began in 1912, demolition of the old station was completed in 1913, and the new station became operational in 1914.

The new station comprised 13 platforms. Much of the masonry of the office accommodation was freestone from Northumberland rather than local granite which was deemed too expensive. The new roof, covering the present concourse, with its light and airy appearance was smaller

than the old roof, being 245 ft long and 97 ft wide, covering an area not entered by trains. The platforms, extending north and south from the concourse, were provided with umbrella-like steel roof trusses for almost their entire lengths.

Recently the station has been reduced in size and modernised but the basic structure remains.

R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.

Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands' with kind permission from Thomas Telford Publishers.

Project (February 2014 - July 2014)

A data upgrade project to record war memorials.

References

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