Provost Skene's House is a house in Aberdeen, built in 1545 and now housing a museum. It is named after Provost Skene, who bought it in 1669 and is thought to have commissioned its 17th century plaster ceilings. [1] [2]
It lies in central Aberdeen, midway between the Kirk of St Nicholas and Marischal College.
The building was remodelled in the mid-18th century (increasing window sizes) but remains a rare survival of Aberdeen's medieval burgh architecture, with substantially intact envelope and interior. In an attic gallery a Renaissance painted ceiling, including strapwork decoration and religious scenes, was commissioned by a member of the Lumsden family. [3]
The building was opened to the public in 1953 as a 'Period House and Museum of Local History' by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. In that iteration, the rooms were furnished in the styles of the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries. There were also displays of coins and local history. The Costume Gallery also housed regularly changing displays of period dress.
In 2021, Provost Skene's House was reopened to the public after renovations were completed. It now houses displays on singers, writers, doctors, business owners and other prominent figures who were born, lived or worked in Aberdeen, meaning the city now lacks a general chronologically-based local history museum. [4] The Painted Gallery is the only part of the earlier display to be retained. Rated a three star museum by the Scottish Tourist Board, the museum is free to the public.
The University of Aberdeen is a public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is an ancient university founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, petitioned Pope Alexander VI on behalf of James IV, King of Scots to establish King's College, making it Scotland's 3rd oldest university and the 5th oldest in the English-speaking world and the United Kingdom. Aberdeen is consistently ranked among the top 160 universities in the world and is ranked within the top 20 universities in the United Kingdom according to The Times & The Sunday Times, and 13th in the UK according to The Guardian.
Queen's House is a former royal residence built between 1616 and 1635 near Greenwich Palace, a few miles down-river from the City of London and now in the London Borough of Greenwich. It presently forms a central focus of what is now the Old Royal Naval College with a grand vista leading to the River Thames. Its architect was Inigo Jones, for whom it was a crucial early commission, for Anne of Denmark, the queen of King James VI and I. Queen's House is one of the most important buildings in British architectural history, being the first consciously classical building to have been constructed in the country. It was Jones's first major commission after returning from his 1613–1615 grand tour of Roman, Renaissance, and Palladian architecture in Italy.
Craigievar Castle is a pinkish harled castle or fortified country house 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was the seat of Clan Sempill and the Forbes family resided here for 350 years until 1963, when the property was given to the National Trust for Scotland by William Forbes-Sempill, 19th Lord Sempill, in the 1960s. The setting is among scenic rolling foothills of the Grampian Mountains, and the contrast of its massive lower storey structure to the finely sculpted multiple turrets, gargoyles and high corbelling work to create a classic fairytale appearance.
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. It reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment and since then has been one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions. The museum has 22 galleries, housing a range of exhibits, including Renaissance art, taxidermy, and artefacts from ancient Egypt.
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Collection.
Marischal College is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long-term lease from the University of Aberdeen, which still uses parts of the building to store its museum collections. Today, it provides corporate office space and public access to council services, adjacent to the Town House, the city's historic seat of local government. Many Aberdonians consider Marischal College to be an icon of the "Granite City" and to symbolise the zenith of Aberdeen's granite-working industry.
Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum, formerly The Smith Institute, is an art and local history museum in Stirling, Scotland. The museum was founded in 1874 at the bequest of artist Thomas Stuart Smith.
The Kirk of St Nicholas is a historic church located in the city centre of Aberdeen, Scotland. Up until the dissolution of the congregation on 31 December 2020, it was known as the "Kirk of St Nicholas Uniting". It is also known as "The Mither Kirk" of the city. As of 1 January 2021, the building falls under the care and maintenance of the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland.
Aberdeen Maritime Museum is a maritime museum in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Sir George Skene of Fintray (1619–1708) was a Scottish merchant in the Baltic trade who served as Provost of the city of Aberdeen from 1676 to 1685. He was knighted in 1681.
The Tolbooth in Aberdeen, Scotland is a 17th-century former jail which is now operated as a museum. The museum contains prison cells and exhibits various police and law and order related items.
The architecture of Aberdeen, Scotland, is known for the use of granite as the principal construction material. The stone, which has been quarried in and around the city, has given Aberdeen the epithet The Granite City, or more romantically, and less commonly used, the Silver City, after the mica in the stone which sparkles in the sun.
The city of Aberdeen in Scotland has amenities that cover a wide range of cultural activities, including a selection of museums and galleries. There are festivals and theatrical events throughout the year.
Cliffe Castle Museum, Keighley, West Yorkshire, England, is a local heritage museum which opened in the grand, Victorian, neo-Gothic Cliffe Castle in 1959. Originating as Cliffe Hall in 1828, the museum is the successor to Keighley Museum which opened in Eastwood House, Keighley, in c. 1892. There is a series of galleries dedicated to various aspects of local heritage, and to displaying the house itself, which is a Grade II listed building. Entrance to the museum is free of charge.
The Palace of Holyroodhouse, commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyroodhouse has served as the principal royal residence in Scotland since the 16th century, and is a setting for state occasions and official entertaining.
Scottish renaissance painted ceilings are decorated ceilings in Scottish houses and castles built between 1540 and 1640. This is a distinctive national style, though there is common ground with similar work elsewhere, especially in France, Spain and Scandinavia. An example in England, at Wickham, Hampshire, was recorded in 1974. There are records of over 100 examples, and a much smaller number of painted ceilings survive in-situ today. Some salvaged painted beams and boards are stored by Historic Environment Scotland. The paintings at Crathes Castle, dating from 1597 and 1602 are probably the best known.
Marischal Square is a mixed use complex on Broad Street, Aberdeen, Scotland. The development is located on the site of St. Nicholas House, Aberdeen City Council's former 14-storey headquarters building, whose demolition was completed on 18 June 2014, after staff had been relocated to the redeveloped Marischal College across the road.
Sir William Nisbet of Dean was a 16th/17th century Scottish merchant who twice served as Provost of Edinburgh from 1616 to 1619 and 1622 to 1623.
Coordinates: 57°08′54″N2°05′51″W / 57.1483°N 2.0975°W
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