Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Step back in time: Photographic memories of Upperkirkgate

Post Thumbnail

It might be hard to imagine today, with the glass towers of Marischal Square and concrete bulk of the Bon Accord Centre, but Upperkirkgate is one of Aberdeen’s oldest streets.

Found on medieval maps, it is an echo of the ancient city of Aberdeen before modernity swept it away.

Upperkirkgate as it is today.

Offering a route to the Mither Kirk it was a narrow street dotted with lanes and courts that would have made it, and the surrounding area, reminiscent of York’s famous Shambles.

In recent years it has been home to a range of shops, restaurants, pubs and cafes. Join us as we step back in time to look at Upperkirkgate.

A view of Aberdeen as it was in 1932. This picture from our archive was taken from the Greyfriars Church tower on Broad Street, looking towards Upperkirkgate. One of Marischal College’s towers can be seen on the right.


You’d hardly recognise it today, but take a look at this picture from June 1953 and you’ll realise it’s the junction of Schoolhill, St Nicholas Street, and Upperkirkgate. Boots’ corner shop had just closed and moved to Union Street.


The Upperkirkgate as it was in 1953, looking down from its junction with the Gallowgate and Broad Street, in the days before the Bon Accord Centre.


This scene dates from the 1950s and shows Upperkirkgate with a policeman complete with armbands on point duty directing the traffic – not that there was much for him to do in those days.


The junction of George Street and Upperkirkgate in 1978 was soon to change dramatically with the building of the St Nicholas and Bon Accord shopping centres.