Building record MAB24064 - ROBERT GORDON'S COLLEGE

School built on the site of a Dominican (Black Friars) building (NJ90NW0041).

School built on the site of a Dominican (Black Friars) building (NJ90NW0041). Gordon's Hospital, a residential school known as the Auld Hoose, was designed by William Adam and completed in 1732 only opening for pupils in 1750, after a period of occupation by troops of the Duke of Cumberland on their way to Culloden. The Duke converted it to a temporary fort to garrison some 200 soldiers, surrounded by a ditch and palisade. The garden walls were taken down and a well dug in the grounds. The house stood in extensive gardens which were later open to the public. The Auld Hoose opened as a school in July 1750 with 14 pupils who lived in the Auld Hoose. The statue of Robert Gordon in the niche above the door was commissioned from John Cheere in 1753. The building was extended in 1830-33, with east and west wings by John Smith, to accomodate extra pupils. In 1881 the 'Hospital' was reconstituted as a day school, and renamed Robert Gordon's College. The original hospital (Auld Hoose) is a 3-storey with attic, 7 bay symmetrical H-plan classical building set in extensive grounds. Built of grey granite ashlar with pale granite dressings and raised margins, and a grey slate roof. The stone came from the Loanhead Quarry in the Rosemount area. The central 3 bays of the south elevation are flanked by advanced and pedimented outer bays. There is a tall octagonal cupola at the ridge with a tapering, crocketed spire and weathervane. The 7-bay central block is flanked by symmetrical 2-storey, L-plan colonnaded wings by John Smith forming a courtyard. The college war memorials include a plaque, books of rememberance and a memorial board to the staff and pupils killed in both World Wars. Archaeological assessment was carried out by Aberdeen City Council Archaeological Unit (ACCAU) in April 2000 ahead of an extension to the school library on the northwest side of the 'Auld Hoose' (See also NJ90NW0927). This revealed a ditch which aligns with the position of a ditch dug around Robert Gordon's Hospital in 1746 to create the Cumberland Fort. A contemporary plan of the makeshift fortification shows a series of banks and ditches around the Auld Hoose buildings. Finds from the ditch indicate an 18th century date, including a brick probably one of those used by Cumberland's troops to block the windows and which was removed after they abandoned the building. See

Period Notes
Listed 01/06/1966. Original school completed 1732, opened 1750; extended 1830-33.

ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL, , ABERDEEN'S JACOBITE TRAIL AND COLLECTIONS (Bibliographic reference). SAB8364.

ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL, 2013, GRANITE TRAIL ABERDEEN: A GUIDE TO ABERDEEN'S GRANITE INDUSTRY (Bibliographic reference). SAB6472.

CAMERON, A, 2016, FIVE SITES IN THE ENVIRONS OF MEDIEVAL ABERDEEN (Bibliographic reference). SAB7012.

ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL, 2017, A LIST OF SOME OF THE WAR MEMORIALS IN ABERDEEN CITY (Bibliographic reference). SAB6461.

Record last edited

Sep 15 2025 2:31PM