Agnes Blackadder and Powell Halls | Accommodation Overview

The title of the hall with the most students under one roof goes to Agnes Blackadder Hall and in 2018, it's total numbers were boosted by the addition of the post-grad students in the newly completed Powell Hall. Agnes Blackadder Hall was named for the first female graduate of the University.

ABH and Powell are quite near Uni Hall and Whitehorn (which I've already posted about) but instead of being on the street above the North Haugh, ABH is down on the North Haugh, between Andrew Melville Hall and the recently fire stricken Biomedical Science Building (don't worry, it's not on fire anymore!). Like Uni Hall and Whitehorn, ABPH is in an ideal location for any science students since you can pretty much fall out of bed into a lecture theatre, as well as for anyone using the Athletic Union. It's not too far from town either and I have it on good authority that it can take "15 minutes if you walk slowly".  While it's not the prettiest building from the outside (I'd say that honour goes to Uni Hall or Sallies), inside it's quite nice. All the rooms are en-suite with double beds, even in the shared rooms, which is pretty good compared to the single beds in a lot of the other halls. Some rooms are self catered with a few rooms sharing a kitchen where as some rooms are catered so will eat together in the dining room. Powell is entirely self catered. The ABPH Committee Senior Student, Sophie Bickerton, has said that:

"The kitchens in each corridor often provide a focal point for residents where you can get to know your corridor. We have people watch movies togerther, bake or just hang out in their kitchens. For Catered srudents, the dining hall is a really great place to get to meet lots of different people, especially in Freshers week."
People also use their kitchens to have friends over, in fact one of my friends held an awesome toastie party in her kitchen after getting a new toasty machine. They really are great places to socialise and have a good time.


When I reached out to her, Sophie also told me a bit about some of the things that the ABPH
committee do throughout the year, you can see the direct quote below. [My clarifications are in square brackets]

"From the committee side of things, we try to provide a wealth of events that will interest students from both halls. We are very fortunate to have Forbes Bar where we often host pres on a Friday night as well as it featuring a TV with license and Sky subscription to watch world cup games, movies and popular tv shows. The games room is also very popular with the pool table and table tennis table as well as a large projector. We often host movie nights as well as games nights (Mario Kart, Fifa etc.). One of our most popular events is a Casino Night where we provide cocktails and all proceeds go to charity. Our biggest event is obviously the Hall Ball which we host with Andrew Melville – North Haugh Ball, which the committees organise and try to make is as affordable to residents as possible."

ABH is one of the few halls that has it's own bar, Forbes Bar's free pres are amazing when you're on a budget (and if you don't live in ABH I would strongly suggest making some friends there as at least this years committee didn't turn away people from out of halls as long as you signed into the building). It's a nice space with plenty seats and the walls adorned with Scottish slang (and what they mean!! I know some of it doesn't make a lot of sense).

Like my last post about Uni Hall, I also spoke to some ABH residents from last year and below you'll find their comments.

"Free bar my dude [yes, that is an exact quote from a student]. Good community though. Everyone sort of knows everyone. ABH is perfect for STEM students."

"Agnes Blackadder Hall was a good experience around: from an active hall community to a fitting location for science undergraduates, I enjoyed it there. There was always some sort of hall activity going on, and during large events there's also free pre's which is a great way to start the evening."

I'm sure it's clear that ABPH is a great place to live and I hope this post has put any apprehensions to rest but if not then make sure to join the ABPH Facebook Group if you haven't already. You should be able to find it in the University of St Andrews Class of 2023 Group.