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Site of a hospital founded in 1459. The hospital of St Thomas the Martyr was located to the east of the kirk of St. Nicholas in the Netherkirkgate and to the west of the burn flowing from the Upper Mill. It was founded in 1459 by John Clatt, canon of the Cathedrals of Aberdeen and Brechin, for the benefit of the poor and infirm. Clatt's foundation charter granted to the hospital land and tenements on the south side of the Netherkirkgate on the east side of Millburn for the establishment of the hospital buildings. It was further endowed with annuities from certain tenements in the town amounting to £1 4s. 8d and 6 merks from the lands of Mondynes in Kincardine. In the foundation charter, in return for his gifts, Clatt asked for the celebration of masses for his soul, the souls of his ancestors, his father and mother, King James II and Alexander Stuart, earl of Mar. An additional grant was made in July 1459 by Richard Kintore, Provost of Aberdeen and burgess of Kintore, of nineteen roods of land in the town of Kintore. In 1574, the revenues of the hospital were inconsiderable as four old burgesses' annual allowance was only £10 each and by 1575, the chaplains of the church of St. Nicholas resigned the possession and care of the hospital to the burgh of Aberdeen. The burgesses of the guild agreed to make contributions to the hospital in circa 1600. However, in 1609 eleven and one half roods of land in Kintore were sold by the master of the hospital, presumably to raise much needed revenue for the upkeep of the hospital and future allowances for the sick and poor. The hospital was rebuilt and enlarged in 1631 and renamed the Guild Brothers' Hospital. At the time, six unmarried, old burgesses were admitted as bedesmen and given £100 annually. In 1660, the Town Council put through further regulations in regards to the hospital and bedesmen. The bedesmen were directed to attend church and were allocated a desk in the church, presumably in the kirk of St. Nicholas. In addition, they were directed not to wander the streets, to visit taverns or alehouses, or to leave town without permission from the magistrates. They were also ordered to gather in the refectory every morning to hear prayers and read a chapter of the Bible. The hospital was still in operation in 1661 but the hospital and garden were sold in circa 1768. Later houses and shops were built on the site: in 1818 the site of the hospital was occupied by the chapel of Associated Burghers and part of St. Nicholas Street. During building operations in 1902, evidence of a burial ground at the east of the hospital site were recorded.
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Historic Environment Records (HER) 
Aberdeen City
HER -
NJ90NW0056 - ST THOMAS'S HOSPITAL