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Moulded sandstone archway taken from a house originally located in Guestrow, moved to Union Terrace Gardens (NJ90NW0563) in 1931, and relocated at its present site in 1970, and now set within a modern wall. The archway was erected in 1673 by Andrew Thomson Advocate and Sheriff- Depute in Aberdeen as gateway to his house. Andrew Thomson was an advocate in Aberdeen. He was Sheriff-Depute of Aberdeenshire for the years 1685-6. However prior to this he had acted as a Sheriff Substitute and seems to have been actively involved in the politics of the local court. From about 1680 he seems to have been acting as a Sheriff Substitute and when Aeneas McPherson (Sheriff Substitute 1684-5) ousted Andrew Fraser of Kinmundie from the position of Substitute Aeneas granted a substitution to Thomson on 9 January. This appointment was confirmed on 9 July 1685 by the Sheriff Principal, Lord Erroll. The other relic of Thomson's house is a dated stone bearing initials. The sandstone panel bears the date 1673 and the initials AT, for Andrew Thomson and AD, for Agnes Divie, his wife. It is tempting to assume that the date is either the date of their marriage or the date they built their house. Almost all of Guestrow was swept away in slum clearance in the early years of the 1930s and in a few years following that. On demolition of Thomson's house, in 1931, the archway was rebuilt in Union Terrace Gardens. In 1970 it was removed from Union Terrace Gardens and re-erected as an entrance to the fore court of Provost Skene's House (NJ90NW0014). This is much closer to its original location and it now sits next to the date and initial inscribed stone also rescued from the demolition in 1931.
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Historic Environment Records (HER) 
Aberdeen City
HER -
NJ90NW1020 - SHERIFF THOMSON'S ARCH