Belmont Street is a north-south street in the centre of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

that runs perpendicular to Union Street. Belmont Street originated with the late 18th century expansion of the town. It was part of an expansion out of the town into suburbs to the west by the towns richer denizens. For example,

Thomas Menzies of Pitfodels Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, one of Aberdeen's wealthiest merchants of the time, moved from his long-standing town house on Castle Street (which is now the site of the

North of Scotland Bank North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

) to a five-bay two-storey house on Belmont Street in 1788. The street overlooked the valley of the

River Denburn The Denburn Valley Line was a connecting line constructed to connect the northern end of the Aberdeen Railway and Deeside Railway to the southern end of the Great North of Scotland Railway mainline. History The line was built over a former stre ...

and was developed on vacant ground there in the 1780s, housing there initially comprising the domiciles of the wealthy, typified by large town houses with gardens running down to the river. A few of the houses from the late 18th century still survive on Belmont Street today, including Menzies'. There were several churches on Belmont Street. The

Triple Kirks The Triple Kirks in Aberdeen, Scotland were built at the time of the Disruption of 1843 when the Free Church of Scotland (the Free Kirk) split from the Church of Scotland (the Kirk). The three churches were all part of a single building with a ...

, a free church established in 1844 at the junction of Belmont Street and Schoolhill, was deliberately sited with the intention of rivalling the established "Auld Kirk" of St Nicholas parish. A building to house the unification of the East, South, and West free churches of the town, it was designed by

Archibald Simpson Archibald Simpson (4 May 1790 – 23 March 1847) was a Scottish architect, who along with his rival John Smith, is regarded as having fashioned the character of Aberdeen as "The Granite City".Simpson, William Douglas, (1947) ''The Archibald S ...

. There is now a pub, the Triple Kirks, on the site. The South Church is also on Belmont Street. In November 1779, the

anti-Burgher The Anti-Burghers were opponents of the Burgher Oath on theological grounds. History First Secession In 1733 the First Secession from the Church of Scotland resulted in the creation of the "Associate Presbytery". This church split in 1747 ove ...

United Presbyterians of north Aberdeen moved to a purpose-built 800-seat church on Belmont Street. The

Relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

United Presbyterians established a Belmont Street congregation a little after 1778, when funds began to be raised for a 1000-seat church. In 1828, the Belmont Chapel of Ease, as it had come to be, became a fully fledged parish church, under the ministership of Reverend John Bryce.

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* * * * * * * {{coord, 57.14687, N, 2.10139, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Culture in Aberdeen Streets in Aberdeen