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United Free church, designed by William Smith, opened in 1868 as the second, more elaborate, premises of the United Free Church. Gilcomston United Free Church is located on Union Street at its junction with Summer Street. After the Disruption of 1843 and the move of Reverend Bryce with his congregation from Gilcomston Parish Church, the Free Church met in temporary accommodation of the church on Huntly Street. In 1864, however, a site for a church was purchased from the Town and construction of the new church started in 1867. The contracted cost to build the structure was estimated at around £4786, which did not include the spire, which would cost approximately £1000 five years later. In the end, the total cost of the building (without the spire) was over £5500. It was designed by William Smith, architect, in a Gothic style. The main tower is 145 feet high and the smaller tower 75 feet. The interior of the church measures 80 feet by 54 feet 6 inches, the roof being 45 feet high at its highest point. The roof is supported on iron columns placed at the inserts of the six gables that correspond to the six buttresses. In 1868, the iron columns were painted green with the capitals and cornices in gold. Lighting was by gas chandeliers and downstairs there were gas brackets in the wall, traces of which were still visible in the 1960s. There are three central hallways, the centre one being 5 feet wide, to the outside of the vestibule was 11 feet wide and runs the whole length of the church right to the tower base. Internally the windows were arranged in the buttress bays in a 3-2-1 formation, denoting the Trinity. The large window is 14 feet across and in the apse there were three lancet windows, now the Macbeth window. The next part of building work took place some years later due to the difficulty in raising funds for the construction and it was not until April 1870 that the main tower was begun. It is not clear when the tower was finished and in the final construction it had room for a clock, but this was not installed until the refurbishment in 1993. The construction of the hall was the next phase of development in 1879. Dr Francis Edmonds proposed to the Deacon's Court of the church the plans and alterations to the church that would include the hall; he paid for the entire construction himself. The hall measured 42 feet by 22 feet and was built on the north side of the church. It was to accommodate the meetings of the Deacon Court, Prayer Meetings, and the children's Sunday school. The decision to install the organ in the apse began in 1899; however, the installation of the present oak pulpit and screen went on as planned. In addition, electric lighting was installed in the pulpit and vestry but no other alterations were done until the organ was actually bought in 1902. In 1909, further alterations were done with electricity installed throughout the church, book-boards, the pews were stained, the church painted, heating renewed and the borders of the windows, which were red, were replaced with cathedral yellow glass and the choir was raised. From the records, it appears that no other alterations were made to the church until the mid-1960s when the hall was reconstructed in its present form; an upper level and stairway was added. Memorials were added to the church following World War I and World War II and the list of names are found on three oak panels located behind the pulpit. The Mitchell memorial window (the southmost window on the west side) commemorates Rev. R. A. Mitchell, minister of the church from 1877-1897. It has the figures of St Paul, St John and St Peter and had more colours than the rest of the windows in the church. The Macbeth window is in the apse of the church and was dedicated in 1908 in memory of Walter Macbeth and his sister Amelia. The subject of the three window panels is the Ascension. In the centre panel is a figure of ascending Christ, flanked by his disciples on the panels to the left and right. The Morrison Memorial window, dedicated in 1908, is at the Summer Street door and commemorates Mr Charles Morrison and his wife Jane Morrison who were members of the congregation for over forty years. The James Sinton window was donated in 1996 by Mrs. Elizabeth Sinton, wife of James, who was the Church Officer from 1950 to 1995. It is located in the middle of the southernmost triple window under the West Gallery. The Burning Bush window was originally in the centre of the apse window but it was discarded when the Macbeth window was planned. However, one of the elders requested that it remain in the church and it was re-installed in the northernmost triple window under the East Gallery. The font of the church was originally a bowl placed on a brass bracket on the top of the railing of the west side of the pulpit. In 1898, William Webster, a granite merchant, offered to present a font to the church and the polished red granite font is still seen at the foot of the main stairs to the gallery. The font was used until 1957 when it was replaced with the current font of oak. By the late 1980s, the tower and spire had become dangerous due to deterioration of the sandstone. The spire was demolished in 1988 to the level of the tower. In 1991, the church received a variety of grants from Aberdeen City Council, Historic Scotland, and the Scottish Development Agency to completely repair and restore the church to what it looked like in 1868. Phase 1 of refurbishment was rebuilding the steeple; phase 2 consisted of re-slating the roof, restoration of the small tower, stone cleaning and general upkeep of the exterior. Phase 3 began in 2002 for further restoration and refurbishment of the church which included restoration of the exterior of the windows.
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Historic Environment Records (HER) 
Aberdeen City
HER -
NJ90NW1037 - GILCOMSTON SOUTH CHURCH