Station Brae, Fraserburgh

Station Brae 

Fraserburgh railway Station was situated at the bottom of this short street, opposite the Dalrymple Hall seen here. The station was opened in 1865, the splendidly baronial Dalrymple Hall and cafe was built in 1881: its imposing design befits a period of growth and civic pride in the Broch. The building was partly financed by Captain John Dalrymple, after whom the street behind the building was named. This ambitious  building, with its five storey  baronial tower,  originally housed a cafe, dining room, newsroom, public hall, public baths and once a month was used for the sheriff court. The building, still known as 'The Cafe' is now an arts centre having been sold to the Town Council in 1945 for use as a public hall. The 'Silver Beetles', later 'The Beatles', performed  here on 23rd May 1960 as part of their Scottish tour.They were not well received.

The undated  6th Edition of the Fraserburgh Official Tourist Guide, published in the years following the 2nd World War, carried this advertisement for the Dalrymple Hall where luncheon could be enjoyed for under the equivalent of 7 pence.

The 'drifter' weather vane five storeys up on the Dalrymple tower

As the railway station opened two houses at the top of  Station Brae were hastily converted to form the Railway Hotel, by 1901 this had become the Station Hotel. Note the pediment over the second ground floor window from the right, converted from  a doorway.The hotel is now closed and controversially operates as a multiple occupancy establishment.

An Advertisement for the Station Hotel from an early 1960s guide to Fraserburgh when the town was  a popular tourist destination and the Station Hotel was one of several flourishing hotels.

The Curves building on Seaforth Street was for a time the home of the Fraserburgh Station Agent (Station master). Originally the Fraserburgh Station Agent was based at Philorth Halt. The beautifully symmetrical  classical building adjacent to it, Saltoun Chambers,  was the Saltoun Estate Office.

Seaforth Street as far as the junction with Victoria Street, where Saltoun Chambers is situated,  was built around 1858 at the direction of Lord Saltoun's agent as an extension of Broad Street. It was extended eastwards beyond the South Church, to where the Leisure Centre is now situated, by the Town Council in 1911 as a scheme to provide work for the unemployed.