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Summary

Description

John Smith, 1808-9 with later additions (see Notes). Single storey and attic 3 bay dwelling house with pair of piended and canted dormers. Squared and snecked granite rubble; pink granite dressings.

Timber sash and case windows; grey slates; ashlar skews and skewputts; gable stacks with brick stack abutting gable end to left. Cast-iron rainwater goods. No openings to rear.

Statement of Special Interest

No 2 North Square is a good example of its type within the Footdee squares. It has had its original single storey raised by half its height again, while the pitch of the roof has been steepened to accommodate a large attic. With its two flanking neighbours, a stepping down in height occurs with the original single storey at No 3. Together the three properties offer a picturesque grouping, representative of the incremental development that characterises the village of Footdee. Unusually, a timber 'tarry shed' survives at No2, the vast majority of which are now brick built.

The entire Footdee village was added to the statutory list in 1967 as a single entity, with the squares designated as a Conservation Area one year later. Following resurvey of the area in 2006, buildings have been listed separately on a selective basis, on their own merits and as good representatives of the history and development of the village as a whole.

Footdee is a particularly interesting example of a planned housing development purpose built to re-house Aberdeen's local fishing community. Laid out in 1809 by John Smith, then Superintendent Of The Town's Public Works, who went on to establish himself as one of Aberdeen's key architectural figures. Occupying an isolated spit of land to the SE of Aberdeen City centre, its regimented squares have been described as 'a cross between the neo-classical aspirations of Aberdeen and the close-knit fishing communities of the north-east'.

The two main squares of Footdee originally contained 28 single-storey thatched houses although this increased when the later Middle Row (circa 1837) and Pilot Square (circa 1855) were added. The 'gap sites' on each of the North and South squares were filled in 1837 by Smith. During the 1870's, his son William was to add additional storeys to the East and West sides of South Square creating a tenement feel. This was an attempt to ease crowding resulting from an influx of fishing families from other less prospering townships and to help try to inforce the 'one-house-one-family' rule prevailent at the time.

The Town Council decided to start selling the dwellings to occupiers in 1880, beginning a period of piecemeal development and reconstruction. Additional storeys and dormers were added piecemeal by the new owners as funds allowed and as their families grew in size. The result is one of individuality expressed within the constraints of a strictly formal plan and is a contributing factor to the special architectural and historical interest of Footdee as a whole.

Over time, 'tarry sheds' associated with each dwelling were built incrementally on adjacent land within the squares, the precedent for which dates back to the early 19th century. Originally constructed from drift wood and other found materials, the sheds have been built and rebuilt in a wholly idiosyncratic manner over the years in a variety of materials with rendered brick now predominating slightly (2006). Some timber built sheds remain however, mainly located to the North side of North Square.

Referred to locally and historically as 'Fittie', the derivation of which remains uncertain although a number of suggestions have been put forward. The Church of St Fittick is situated half a mile away to the south. 'Footdee' is probably a more recent and literal Anglicisation, derived from its proximity to the mouth of the River Dee.

Category changed from B to C(S), 2007.

References

Bibliography

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