St Mary’s Church

After the First World War and due to the over crowding of the city centre, Aberdeen built new house schemes in the outlying areas of the city; Torry, Kaimhill, Hilton, Middlefield, Anderson Drive, Pittodrie and Seaton.

In 1929 The Church of Scotland united with the United Free Church, this enabled congregations to join together and become stronger. It also allowed the Church of Scotland to build new churches in these perimeter areas.  In April 1931 the decision was made by the Aberdeen Presbytery to do something in the Pittodrie/ Seaton Road area. In March 1932 a temporary building was obtained in Linksfield Place, with Rev. Ian Macalister inducted as Minister of the Pittodrie Parish on 4 November 1934.

Soon after this the site for the Pittodrie Church at Regent Walk has been bought for £1600. Messrs A. Marshall MacKenzine, Architects, were appointed to draw up plans for a new granite-built Church, with a gallery that would seat 580 people. The attached hall would accommodate 350. The estimated cost for the build was £10,143.

Within 6 months of Rev. Macalister’s appointment at Pittodrie there were 150 pupils in the Primary Sunday School. This was considered high from an area where, at that time, the local authority houses did not let to families. 

In the 1930's, due to the depopulation of the city centre, many of the city centre churches were closed and sold off.  The proceeds of these sales were fed into the new perimeter congregations.

St Mary's Church, Aberdeen

The newly built Pittordie Church was opened on 6 January 1939.

During an air raid on 12 July 1940, a bomb landed across the road in Kings College grounds and caused damage to the new church buildings.

Later in 1940 Rev. Ian Macalister married Miss Anna MacNab and in 1942 the couple left for Abernethy.  With this vacancy it was considered that the Pittodrie and Gallowgate congregations might join together, as a bomb had destroyed the Gallowgate Church the previous April. This suggestion was rejected at this time and the Gallowgate congregation continued to meet at the Old High Church / Denburn Hall. The minister remarked “The Church has not been bombed, only the building”

In December 1942 Rev. Roderick MacKinnon was appointed at Pittodrie Church.  During the war the large church hall was used for Air Raid Precautions.

In 1950 the subject of the union with the Gallowgate parish came up again. The congregation was consulted and it was agreed that Pittodrie and Gallowgate would unite in what would later become St Mary’s Parish Church, this union took place on 5 November 1950.

Over the decades the congregation numbers fluctuated.  Housing development had an impact on the congregation size with the mass building of homes in the Bridge of Don seeing new members to the church. In Seaton during the 1960s – 70s there were 14 multi-storey blocks built with between 70 – 100 new households.