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Summary

Description

Mid 19th century and 1897 (dated). Large 5-storey and attic 7 and 13-bay range of warehouses on corner site with prominent corner corbelled turret breaking eaves with fish-scale slating. Squared and coursed granite, rock-faced to ground, rubble to rear. Band courses, cill courses, attic course to 12 Virginia Street. Run of 3 gables to Shore Lane (W) with ball finial to apex of No 16. Some large rectangular openings to ground, some with timber sliding doors.

Predominantly barred fixed 6-pane timber windows with timber astragals, some casement. Grey slates. Gable stacks.

INTERIOR: timber flooring, timber staircase to 16 Shore Lane. Concertina doors to lifts. Some 4-panel timber doors. Steel columns and beams.

Statement of Special Interest

This distinctive set of warehouses with their near-intact elevations and distinctive turret add significant value to the streetscape of this Harbour area. Warehouses were critical to Aberdeen's mercantile history and this set is crucially sited very close to the Harbour. Only a handful of warehouses remain and these are an increasingly important part of the character of the harbour area. No 16 Shore Lane was bought by the Shore Porters Society in 1892 from John Lyall Grant, a merchant in Aberdeen. 12 Virginia Street was built as a general warehouse for The Shore Porters Society in 1897 on the site of an old granary and warehouse.

The Shore Porters Society, established in 1498, claims to be the oldest established transport business in the world. The porters were originally called The Pynours or Workmen until 1836, when it become The Shore Porters Society. The porters originally transported barrels of goods, unloaded from the ships at the nearby harbour, up Ship Row and into the town for payment of a penny. The Society today (2006) provides both storage facilities and a removal service.

References

Bibliography

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