South United Free Church, Schoolhill, Aberdeen

The building at 69 Schoolhill in Aberdeen is a public house designed by Archibald Simpson in 1844. It is a partially ruinous remnant of three adjoining Gothic churches that were established after the Disruption. The structure includes a six-bay gable-ended former East Free Church, which has been converted into commercial premises since 2006, along with the adjoining gable and part wall of the former South Free Church to the west, and a tall, free-standing steeple that serves as a prominent landmark to the south. The church is constructed of pointed rubble with brick and sandstone dressings, while the steeple is made of brick.

The steeple is a five-stage square-plan tower topped with a tall octagonal spire, featuring angled buttresses, string courses, and tall lancet windows, some of which are louvred. The top stage has pedimented pinnacles.

The east elevation of the former East Free Church features a full-height crenellated polygonal entrance porch with Tudor-arch openings that have moulded architraves at the ground level. It also includes pointed-arch lancet windows. The gable of the South Free Church has a tripartite pointed-arch opening to the north and a partial return elevation.

Inside the former East Free Church, which was seen in 2006, the space has been comprehensively modernised. The upper storey has a timber ceiling adorned with decorative carved panels and fan-vaulted moulding that springs from corbels. The windows are predominantly replacement plate glass, and the roof is covered with grey slates and moulded skews.