Union Street is a major street and shopping thoroughfare in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is named after the

Acts of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in personal union) to create the United Kingdom of G ...

with

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The street is approximately one mile long (1.6 km) and a feat of

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

skill involving the partial levelling of St. Catherine's Hill and the building of

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

es to carry the street over Putachieside. The Denburn Valley was crossed by Union Street by Union Bridge (constructed 1801–05). The Union Bridge holds the record of the 'Worlds largest single span granite bridge' at across.

History

Union Street was built to relieve the strain of the small, cramped streets that caused problems for people coming into the city. It was built higher than the old town and was designed to include the five entrances from the city: Queens Road - Rubislaw from Hazelhead; George Street from Inverurie and Morayshire; King Street from the north from Bridge Of Don, Peterhead and Fraserburgh; Market Street, which leads to the fishing town of Torry; and Holburn Street to the Ruthrieston and Garthdee areas. The street was designed in the beginning of the 19th century under plans suggested by Charles Abercrombie and nearly bankrupted the city. The political backing for the scheme was given by Thomas Leys chief magistrate of Aberdeen (and later

Lord Provost A lord provost () is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirlin ...

) and James Hadden. The Denburn River still runs under Union Bridge but has been covered over by a dual carriageway road. The Aberdeen tram network operated through Union Street from 1874 to 1958. Pedestrianisation of the street was discussed as early as 1986. Work began in May 2020 to partially pedestrianise the street and to widen the pavements. The street was completely pedestrianised between Bridge Street and Market Street, with buses routed through Guild Street instead. The street reopened to buses on 3 July 2022. In April 2024, Union Street closed to buses again to allow pavements to be permanently widened and a cycle lane installed in the section between Bridge Street and Market Street. In August 2021,

Aberdeen City Council Aberdeen City Council is the Local government in Scotland, local authority for Aberdeen City, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Aberdeen was formerly governed by a municipal corporation, corporat ...

approved a project priced at £100,000 which will see the street and buildings cleaned, graffiti removed, and signs repaired. A study released in February 2022 priced repairs to buildings along the street at £11 million.

Shops and markets

Like other high streets in Scotland, Union Street has seen an increase in empty shops with around a fifth of ground-level retail spaces unoccupied in 2020. Some of the large shops on or accessed directly from Union Street are

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

(on St Nicholas Street),

HMV HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson. The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...

, Mostyn McKenzie, Cruise,

AllSaints AllSaints is a British fashion retailer headquartered in London, UK.La Ferla, Ruth,The Romance of Jack the Ripper, ''New York Times'', 8 June 2010.Smith, Adam,", ''Fast Company'', 1 October 2010.Lakeland, the Trinity Centre, and

Sports Direct Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited, trading as Sports Direct, is a British retail company owned by Frasers Group. The company was founded in 1982 by Mike Ashley (businessman), Mike Ashley and was originally based in Maidenhead, England. It specialises ...

. The street was home to Bruce Miller's notable musical instrument shop (established 1900) until June 2011, when it closed. Both the Bon Accord Centre and the Trinity Centre have entrances on Union Street. In addition, there are bars and a number of

nightclubs A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and ...

on the street, a former cinema building, and a grand façade fronting the churchyard of the Kirk of St. Nicholas. In 2012,

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

opened its biggest Scottish branch on the street.

Pret a Manger Pret a Manger (; French for "ready to eat") is a British multinational sandwich shop chain founded in London, England, in 1983. It is popularly referred to simply as Pret. As of January 2025, Pret had over 700 locations across 19 countries and ...

also opened. UnionStreetMarket-286819-Richard Slessor

Part of Union Street was occasionally closed to traffic for the Aberdeen International Street Market until it was moved to Union Terrace, which is adjacent to

Union Terrace Gardens Union Terrace Gardens is a public park and gardens situated on Union Terrace, Aberdeen, Union Terrace in Aberdeen, Scotland. The gardens The sunken gardens opened to the public in 1879, and cover approximately two and a half acres . The spac ...

. The market is usually held during the springtime. In the runup to Christmas, elaborate

Christmas lights Christmas lights (also known as fairy lights, festive lights or string lights) are lights often used for decoration in celebration of Christmas, often on display throughout the Christmas season including Advent and Christmastide. The custom ...

are displayed on gantries above and across the street. A ceremony is usually held to mark the illumination of these lights.

Granite Mile

The Granite Mile is a local name for the long stretch of road that encompasses Union Street. Granite Mile begins at the Castlegate, and the Mercat Cross, near Justice Street. It follows the length of Union Street to Holburn Junction.

References

{{Reflist Streets in Aberdeen Shopping streets in Scotland