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The Wallace Tower behind a cherry tree in pink blossom at the edge of Seaton Park.
Aberdeen

Wallace Tower

A tower house of about 1610 that once stood in the centre of Aberdeen, moved stone by stone to the edge of Seaton Park and now home to a café.

Welcome

At the edge of Seaton Park, a stout old tower house with round corner turrets looks a little out of place among the trees.

That is because it began life somewhere else entirely.

It was built around 1610 as the town house of Sir Robert Keith of Benholm, brother of the Earl Marischal who founded Marischal College, and it stood for three and a half centuries on the Nether Kirkgate in the middle of Aberdeen. Its popular name, the Wallace Tower, has nothing to do with William Wallace; it grew from Wall Hoose Close, after a public well that stood nearby. In the 1960s, when the city centre was rebuilt, the tower was taken down stone by stone, numbered, and put up again here.

Look for the carved figure of an armed man with his dog on the wall. A community trust now looks after the tower, and there is a café on its ground floor.

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Before you go

The tower can be seen from the park at any time; a café now opens on its ground floor.

Where
Tillydrone Road, AB24 2TP.
Built
About 1610.
Moved
Rebuilt here in 1971.

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Where it is

On Tillydrone Road at the edge of Seaton Park in Old Aberdeen, AB24 2TP.

Close byOld Aberdeen.
  1. Wrought-iron gates spelling "Cruickshank Botanic Garden" before a granite buildingCruickshank Botanic GardenThe University of Aberdeen's botanic garden in Old Aberdeen, free to enter, with a rock garden, a pond, a sunken garden and an arboretum.Under a mile 2 min by road
  2. Curved balconies of bookshelves stack across multiple floors inside a modern libraryThe Sir Duncan Rice LibraryUnder a mile 2 min by road
  3. St Machar’s CathedralSt Machar’s CathedralThe cathedral across the park.Under a mile 2 min by road
  4. Granite building with glass gable extension and neon "Café" signShelter CaféA small, friendly cafe on the High Street of Old Aberdeen, with Caber coffee, iced lattes, cakes and light lunches, and tables outside.Under a mile 2 min by road
  5. Circular flowerbeds line a park path, a spire visible through the treesSeaton ParkThe park at its feet.1 mile 4 min by road
  6. Lit lamppost beside a cobbled bridge scattered with autumn leavesBrig o' BalgownieThe old bridge over the Don.2 miles 5 min by road
Directions
Stone church tower with roman numeral clock against a grey skyAttractionsKing’s College0.7 miles
Stepped gable and granite frontage of the St Machar BarRestaurantsSt Machar Bar0.8 miles
Granite building with a maroon-fronted café on a cobbled corner streetCafeKilau Coffee0.8 miles
Fat Batch on Elmbank Terrace on a sunny day: a pale green shopfront with a pig between the words of its name, set into a granite tenement.CafeFat Batch0.8 miles
Twin turreted gatehouse towers with crescent moon weathervanes among treesAttractionsOld Aberdeen1.1 miles
Seal's head breaking the water's surface near a shorelineAttractionsSouth Donmouth Beach1.1 miles
Twin turreted towers with crescent finials flank the gated entrance to Union Terrace Gardens, AberdeenAttractionsThe Powis Gates1.2 miles
Open iron gates lead into a snow-dusted graveyard with a Celtic cross headstoneAttractionsThe Snow Kirk1.2 miles
A hand holds a halved wrap outside Grub, "real food with a differenceCafeGrub Old Aberdeen1.2 miles

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