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Former Gilcomston Chapel of Ease, later the Gilcomston (St Colm's) Parish Church, renamed Denburn Parish Church, now Hebron Evangelical Church. The church is located at the north end of Summer Street at its junction with Skene Terrace and was built in 1771 as a Chapel of Ease within the parish of Old Machar. It was connected to the city of Aberdeen by the steep, crooked Mutton Brae at the west end of the Schoolhill below the site that would later house Triple Kirks. In the Denburn area there was a number of workers, especially weavers, who had become established in this district by the mid-18th century. In Jack's Brae, Leadside and Loanhead there were also other small settlements that increased the number of people living in the area. The church was built in the Denburn area to accommodate this growing population which at the time was too far away from the parish church of Old Machar. The design of the church was by William Smith, architect. Externally the church is a large structure, plain, with a small belfry. At the time of its construction, it could accommodate at least a thousand parishioners. The interior has a gallery on three sides and at the front of the end gallery, there was a large suspended model of a ship, the Agnes Oswald . In 1845, John Smith (son of William Smith), architect, added the vestry to the existing building. The first minister of the church in 1773 was Rev. Alexander Johnston but he left in 1776 for a larger church, as Gilcomston was still a Chapel of Ease. By the mid-19th century, however, Dr. James Kidd (d. 1834), minister, raised the status of the Chapel of Ease; it became a parish church in 1834. After his death in 1834, Rev. James Bryce took his place. He did not stay at Gilcomston and left for Gilcomston Free Church (Gilcomston South - NJ(0NW1037) after the Disruption of the Established Church in 1843-taking most of the congregation with him. In 1846, the congregation began to grow again with the Rev. David Milne and he was credited for gaining large numbers of parishioners, which continued to grow until the start of the 20th century. By the end of his ministry, he had improved the church by providing almost a new building. However, no details have survived on what improvements he had done to the building. In 1878, two years after his death, there was a restoration of the interior of the church costing around £4000 where the Summer Street facade was added. And in 1889, a suite of halls were built and opened; in 1897 the pipe organs were installed. Very little is known of the history of Gilcomston Parish Church in the 20th century. We know that its name was changed to Gilcomstone St. Colm's to distinguish it from Gilcomston South or Gilcomston [United] Free Church. Later, it was re-named Denburn Parish Church following the union with St. Paul's in the 1980's. Gilcomston Parish Church (Denburn) was closed in 2006 and the Denburn Parish Church moved to Dessburn Place.
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Historic Environment Records (HER) 
Aberdeen City
HER -
NJ90NW0874 - GILCOMSTON CHURCH