52 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF ABERDEEN AND DISTRICT 
complained that the school was about to fall down, and that the Master 
of Kirk Work was ordered to ‘mend’ it. In 1623 a new school was 
built, but the buildings familiar to the last generation were erected in 
1757. ‘They were vacated in 1862, just six hundred years after the school’s 
first definite mention in history. ‘The present buildings in Skene Street 
were occupied in 1863, but substantial additions have been required 
from time to time to meet the demands for admission. ‘The enrolment 
last session was 793, 438 being in the secondary department. ‘There is 
in the main building a fine assembly hall, recently overhauled and re- 
decorated. A sports field of nearly 12 acres provides excellent facilities 
for organised games, which are a compulsory part of the school curriculum. 
Among the distinguished sons of the school may be mentioned Lord 
Byron, who entered in January 1795, and, as he says in a letter, ‘ threaded 
all the classes to the fourth.’ A statue of Lord Byron stands in front 
of the school. 
An English School situated in Little Belmont Street was, in 1874, 
transferred by the Town Council to the first School Board. It had then 
in attendance only 60 pupils of both sexes, but after reorganisation it 
was successful as a Girls’ Academy and became known as the High 
School for Girls. In 1881 the school was recognised as a Higher Class 
public school, and it was removed in 1893 to the present buildings in 
Albyn Place. ‘These were extended in 1904 and additional accommodation 
was obtained in 1919. Anewplay field of nearly 12 acres with a handsome 
pavilion is now ready for use by the school. The school provides an 
efficient training in academic subjects to the Leaving Certificate stage, 
but it also affords full opportunities for the study of non-academic subjects, 
permitting specialisation in music, art and domestic science. The 
pupils in attendance in session 1933-34 numbered 895, of whom 
418 were in the secondary department. 
The Central Secondary School was opened in May 1894 as an 
‘ex-standard’ school, but it is now conducted under the Secondary 
School Regulations, and provides five-year courses for both boys and 
girls, leading to presentation for the leaving certificate of the Scottish 
Education Department. The enrolment in session 1933-34 was 811. 
There is no primary department attached to the school, admission to 
which is granted only after a satisfactory appearance in an entrance 
examination. No fees are charged at any stage, and free books are 
supplied till pupils reach the age of fourteen years. The Central 
Secondary School is also the recognised Intermediate Centre for pupils 
who wish to follow a general or literary course, the other intermediate 
courses being provided in various schools throughout the city. Since 
1929 there has been carried on in the school a one-year Commercial 
Course for the preparation for office work of girls who have obtained the 
Day School Certificate (Higher) in this school or in any intermediate 
school. The buildings in Little Belmont Street, vacated by the pupils 
of the High School for Girls in 1893, provided sufficient accommodation 
at the opening, but these were extended in 1896, and the new section in 
Schoolhill was opened in 1905. 
In 1921 the Education Authority, having previously revised the schemes 
