Church History
In 1880, the first approach was made to Aberdeen Presbytery for permission to set up a new congregation at Mannofield.
Plans quickly followed for the site of the new church to be situated at Countesswells Road and then, as now, there was much hard work and fund raising, donations and grants and in particular the vision, determination and generosity of Mr. William Gordon.
Rev CC. McDonald conducted the first service on 27th February 1881 in a temporary wooden building.
The Rev William Forbes was inducted on 10th March. 1881 and work on the new church buildings was started with a seating capacity of 700 (now 635).
The Rev. Dr. H. Story who later became Principal of Glasgow University, opened the building familiar to us today on 30th July 1882. The desired status as a parish church was granted to Mannofield in March 1882.
The spire is a replica of the ‘Mither Kirk’ and the second tallest church spire in Aberdeen.
Original Church
The original Church was situated directly in front of the present building, where you now stand. It was a wooden structure known as a Chapel of Ease. The building had been brought from nearby Craigiebuckler to act as temporary church accommodation, and following the erection of the present stone building it went on to serve as a temporary place of worship in nearby Kenfield, and then Bieldside, before finally being demolished in 1969. The first service took place here on 27th February 1881.
Clock
In 1885 a large clock with four faces was installed in the church tower in response to a growing public need for timekeeping. At one time a clock- maker would regularly visit public clocks in the area to ensure they kept correct time. The clock is now maintained by Aberdeen City Council.
The Cache
The cache is located at N57 07.ABC W002 08.XYZ
A. Number of names in last column on the WWI memorial
B. Number of James's remembered on the WWI memorial
C. Number of letters in second word on the last line of WWI memorial
X. Number of letters in Surname of Hong Kong VF soldier remembered on the WWII memorial
Y. Number of soldiers that served in the Gordons remembered on the WWII memorial
Z. Number of letters in last word on WWII memorial
Background Photo © Bill Harrison (cc-by-sa/2.0)