Back Wynd
PLAQUE081
DescriptionBACK WYND This street is laid out on part of a croft which belonged to William Dunbar in 1374 and to the Blackfriars from 1398 - 1560. However the street itself was not formally laid out to houses until 1594. In the 17th century Back Wynd was known as Aedie's Wynd. Before the construction of Union Street Back Wynd provided access to and from the Green.
HistoryThis street was formally laid out in the 1590s at a time when Aberdeen’s population was growing and there was a need to expand the Royal Burgh. The land upon which the street was formed had previously been croft land owned by different people and groups. The street has had a number of names over the centuries including Aedie’s Wynd and Westerkirkgate. Originally the street ran alongside St Nicholas Church down to the Green area of Aberdeen. When Union Street was laid out the section of Back Wynd connecting the street to the Green was severed. However a set of stairs on the south side of Union Street carry down to the Green and are known as Back Wynd steps.
More Information:
As a street Back Wynd dates from 1590-1594. However the land upon which the street was laid out in the 1590s does have a longer recorded history. It was part of a croft of land known as the Sow Croft and later as Caberstone Croft: work has yet to be done on the meaning of the latter name. The recorded history of these crofts begins on 20 October 1374 when the burgesses of Aberdeen granted two particates of arable land to William de Dunbar, burgess. Thus this land was already being used as arable land as early as 1374. At some point before 7 March 1398 William had died: a sasine was issued by Richard Fitchet, one of the baillies of Aberdeen, acting under Dunbar’s posthumous instructions. Dunbar’s had ordered that all of his lands and rents should be conveyed to the Balckfriars.
Thus this croft of land was in the hands of the Blackfriars for the next one hundred and sixty two years until the reformation in 1560. It is most likely that the Blackfriars continued to keep it as arable land and would have rented it out to various tenants who may have erected some buildings on it. It is unclear who got possession of this particular croft after the reformation although most of the Blackfriars’ lands and possessions passed into the hands of Marischal College. However as Aberdeen grew there was a need for westward expansion: houses began to be laid out on this area from about 1590 although this was not formally done until 1594. On 7 March 1594 the council agreed to roup (a form of public auction) the land for houses: the land in fact was described as ‘waist land…betuixt the west kirkyard dyke and the sowcroft sumtyme belonging to the blackfriars…’. The document reveals that the stances for houses were to be ‘fyftie futtis in lenth and tuentie thrie futte in breid reserving sic ane spacioues space betuixt the said kirkyard dyke and the saids tenements as may be in bried sufficient for ane common passage to this burgh by the quilk ane cart or wagane may gang by ane vther…’. On 7 March 1594 the tenements of land with these measurements were laid out and feued nine people for an average cost of about £4 Scots for the plot of land. This is one of the only examples of early modern ‘town planning’ in Aberdeen.
The street ran along the west side of St Nicholas churchyard and connected to the area known as the Green, to the south of St Nicholas Church. In this sense the street was sometimes known as Westerkirkgate. At the foot of the Back Wynd in the Green there was a late 16th century house known as Aedie’s House. In this sense the name of Back Wynd is sometimes given as Aedie’s Wynd, as for example, it appears on Parson Gordon’s map of 1661. When Union Street, Aberdeen’s main thoroughfare was laid out in the late 18th and early 19th centuries it cut across the southern part of Back Wynd and severed direct contact with the Green. In the case of Correction Wynd (to the east of St Nicholas Church) the street continued to connect to the Green but only by running under Union Street. In the case of Back Wynd steps were added at the southern point on Union Street where Back Wynd would once have run to provide access down to the Green.
Location InfoBack Wynd. Side of screen on Union Street side of St Nicholas kirkyard
Keywords
