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Curious corners
in Aberdeen.

It’s 20:06 in Aberdeen.
Aberdeen

Whale jawbones and a wandering tower.

Aberdeen keeps some of its stories in quiet corners. In a Victorian park in Hilton, an arch made from a whale's jawbones recalls the city's Arctic whaling days. A tower house of about 1610 once stood in the city centre, until it was moved stone by stone to the edge of Seaton Park, where it now has a café. Behind a gateway in Old Aberdeen lies a small walled graveyard named for St Mary of the Snows. In the centre, a cobbled granite street climbs towards the Art Gallery, lined with independent cafés. Each is an easy detour between the bigger sights.

Stewart Park→
Wallace Tower→
The Snow Kirk→
Belmont Street→
Place of the day16 hours ago

The Snow Kirk.

A small walled graveyard hidden in Old Aberdeen, the site of the parish kirk of St Mary of the Snows, and a Catholic burial ground for centuries.

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From our guide9 hours ago

Stewart Park.

Stewart Park in Hilton is an ordinary neighbourhood green of 1894 with an extraordinary gateway. Over one of its paths stands an arch made from the jawbones of a whale, there since 1903, a reminder of the days when Aberdeen sent ships to the Arctic whaling grounds. Nearby is a carved stone fountain in memory of Jean Taylor, a grocer whose legacy paid for the park. Boards around the paths tell the stories of local women, among them Margaret Penny, who sailed to the Arctic with her whaling captain husband.

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From our guide1 hour ago

Wallace Tower.

At the edge of Seaton Park stands a stout tower house with round turrets, and it has not always been here. It was built around 1610 as the town house of Sir Robert Keith of Benholm, and it stood on the Nether Kirkgate in the city centre for three and a half centuries. In the 1960s it was taken down stone by stone, numbered and rebuilt here. The name has nothing to do with William Wallace and grew from a nearby well. Look for the carved figure of an armed man and his dog, then stop for a coffee in the community café.

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From our guideJust now

Belmont Street.

Turn off Union Street onto the cobbles of Belmont Street and the pace slows. This short, sloping street of granite buildings from the late 1700s climbs towards the Art Gallery, and it is lined with independent cafés, bars and restaurants. Browse the second-hand shelves at Books & Beans over a coffee, and look down the narrow lanes that slip away between the houses. Come back after dark, when the bars and restaurants are at their liveliest.

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