How you can use this image
This image is available to be shared and re-used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence (CC BY-NC).
This image can be reproduced in any way apart from any commercial uses.
Wherever you reproduce the image or an altered version of it, you must attribute the original creators (acknowledge the original artist(s), the person/organisation that took the photograph of the work) and any other stated rights holders.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find more images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
DownloadNotes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
A disused sculptural well head. It was built in 1708 when a water supply was first piped into the City. It is formed of a square sandstone base, topped with a thin statue of a half-clothed man (the 'Mannie'). The coursed sandstone base has a deep cornice, above which are four masks on the rising ridges of the roof. The masks are grotesque in style, each consisting of three faces; one of full frontal and two of side presentation. On special days, the carved heads at the corners spouted water. There is a small carved lion's head spout and wrought iron lamp bracket on the east face. A cast-iron hinged door on the west face is decorated with the City Coat of Arms. The Mannie, the only example of leaden sculpture in the city (added in the late eighteenth century) is classical in design, and is nude except for a loincloth.
The well-head has been relocated on three occasions. In 1755 it was moved to the eastern end of the Castlegate. In 1840 it was dismantled and re-built on The Green in the 1850s, where it stood until it was dismantled once again in 1958. In 1972, it was re-erected in its present location.
Title
Castlegate Well (The Mannie Well)
Date
c.1710
Medium
lead & stone
Accession number
AB11_DM_S024
Acquisition method
commissioned by William Lindsay
Work type
Water fountain, trough or pump
Owner
Aberdeen City Council
Custodian
Aberdeen City Council
Work status
extant
Listing status
B (Scotland)
Listing date
08/02/89
Access
at all times
