Market Buildings Spire - Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire.
Posted by: 
creg-ny-baa
N 56° 57.843 W 002° 12.494
30V E 548143 N 6313663
Ornate steeple on the former Market Buildings in the centre of the town of Stonehaven on the east coast of Scotland.
Waymark Code: WMWV96
Location: Northern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/16/2017
Views: 0
It was Robert Barclay of Ury who planned the outline of the town of Stonehaven on the North Sea coast some fifteen miles south of the city of Aberdeen, including laying out two acres for a central square. His son, Captain Robert Barclay-Allardice, came up with the suggestion for a market building built adjacent to the square, and this was built from 1826-27. The spire on top however was not built until 1856 with later alterations.
The County Buildings were housed here until 1897, when the Royal Hotel occupied the 1st floor. Now it is the site of the Unionist Club.
The 130 feet tower and spire are in four stages, a polygonal plinth giving way to a rotunda with four timber-louvred round-arched openings, surmounted by a cornice. The octagonal clock stage comes next, followed by a timber-columned pedimented top stage surmounted by a polygonal spire with ball finial and a decorative ironwork weathervane.
The bell inside was made by John C Wilson of Glasgow and the clock, paid by public subscription by Breckinridge & Son of Kilmarnock.
The steeple and buildings face Allardice Street, the towns main thoroughfare, to the east, and the Market Square, now a car park, to the west.