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Introduction

�The world�s greatest jute works� is thedescription given to the former CamperdownWorks, Lochee, by Mark Watson in his book�Jute and Flax Mills in Dundee� (Hutton PressLtd). Although no longer a jute works andsubstantially redeveloped it is still an imposingcomplex and is significant in the renewal ofDundee. To make the study of the newdevelopment more interesting it is useful tobriefly look at the history of the factory complex,then the background of regeneration in the innercity of Dundee to which Camperdown Workscontributes, then to the progress of the newdevelopment.

Camperdown Works circa 1900.

Historical and Technical Background

Last century Dundee flourished as a textilemanufacturing centre. As with many industriesin the 18th and 19th centuries, being beside ariver or stream was important, in the firstinstance for water power and then through theneed to make steam, and also because a lot ofwater was used in the manufacture of jute.

In Dundee, by looking at old maps and notingwhere the factories were you can trace wherethe original streams were. These are no longervisible but are under the streets in big pipes orculverts. Dundee has a long association withthe textile industry. Prior to 1830 it was the

greatest flax-spinning town in the world. After1830 jute became more important. Jute is oneof the world�s major textile fibres, second onlyto cotton.

The city monopolised the trade from 1830-1850and it was not until the 1880s that seriousforeign competition was encountered from thecountries growing the plant, mainly India andPakistan. In Dundee in 1911 there were still41,000 people, almost 50% of the workingpopulation, engaged in textile manufacture.

A brief description of the technicalities of flaxand jute spinning may be of interest. Jute, flaxand hemp are fibres obtained from the stems ofplants. They are strong but elastic and in theirraw state are like long woody ribbons.Considerable effort is needed to prepare thefibres for spinning. They have to be softened,spread, carded to align the fibres and then spun.This all required a varied range of buildings andDundee developed some of the greatest textilecomplexes in Britain.

While the materials they worked were cheapand coarse the mills were often magnificent andmany are amongst the finest examples ofindustrial architecture in Britain, with pride ofplace going to the massive Camperdown Works.There were many technical and socialinnovations. The use of cast iron in decorativeforms is superb. The buildings ancillary to themain mills such as boilerhouses and offices areoften spectacular. Remnants of these arepreserved at Camperdown Works and there is,of course, Cox�s stack, Dundee�s greatlandmark, the finest chimney in Scotland andarguably the best in the UK.

Social developments such as part-time schools,workers� housing and the provision of city parksby the �Jute Barons� were important steps inthe social reform of the times. In Lochee the

ISSUE NUMBER1 : FEBRUARY 2002

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part-time school still stands in Bright Street.Lochee Park was a gift from the Cox family.

The greatest of the jute works was CamperdownWorks at Lochee. Construction of the worksas we know it began in 1850, on the north sideof the Lochee Burn (Burnside Street is the clueto where this was). By 1878 it consumed aneighth of the total jute importation into Dundee,had its own branch railway (the railwaywarehouses have been converted into flats andsports club Polysport), made its own machinery,had its own timber yard, stables and paddockfor the horses. By the turn of the century itemployed 5,000 people on a 35 acre (14.5hectare) site. The complex was laid out on aregular grid pattern, which, compared with DensWorks, appears very efficient. The dramaticchanges in level were used to effect, for instancewith the way the railway was able to drop coalinto the bunkers to feed the boiler range. Themodel in the museum at the McManus Galleryshows this well and is worth a visit. There wasgreat ingenuity employed in the structures andwater storage system and in the detailing, butit is perhaps the High Mill and Cox�s Stack whichcapture the imagination.

In many ways the high Mill was the greatestVictorian textile mill in Scotland. Perhaps TayWorks or Paisley�s Ferguslie Mill could disputethe title having more striking exteriors, but thoseinternal spaces are eclipsed by Camperdown.The High Mill was built between 1857 and 1868.It is 430 ft (131 metres) long, has three storeysand attics on its north elevation set off by twofive-bay pediments, leading the eye towardsCox�s Stack, a 100 ft (30 metres) tall clocktower with big cast iron domed bellcote. All ofthis is crowned by the exuberant chimney stack,built to remind their competitors in Dundee oftheir presence in Lochee in 1865-6 by replacingthree chimneys with one stack of stupendoussize. It is 282 ft (86 metres) tall (now a littleless because of a lightning strike) polychromered, white and black brick campanile based onItalian cathedral campanile. It was then amagnificent example of one of the world�s first

fully integrated industrial complexes.

Sadly, like many other jute mills, by 1980 itwas redundant, through the almost terminaldecline of Dundee�s traditional industry. Mostjute production is now carried out in India,Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Derelict works

The Demise of Camperdown Works

Mill complexes like this and buildings with lotsof iron columns are of little interest to modernindustry whose main requirements are basedon manoeuvring articulated lorries and fork-lifttrucks. Therefore, alternative uses had to befound. These had to be uses which couldgenerate enough money to overcome theproblems associated with such a complex -underground ducts, difficult changes in level,old ponds - and which could restore and convertsome of the interesting buildings listed as beingof architectural or historic interest.

The Council saw Camperdown Works as another,albeit grand, opportunity to help regenerate olderDundee. Similar to other redundant jute worksit was included in the Inner City Local Plan forhousing with parkland around the Stack.

The plan sought to secure some industry onHarefield Road and also stipulated that thereshould be included sheltered flats for elderlypeople and family houses with gardens, as wellas flats. Research showed that many peopledid want houses in the inner city, and that in

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fact 90% of the housing stock of inner Dundeeis flats, which does not offer much choice.However, this was just a plan.

The Council was not in a position to either buyor develop the complex itself. The scale ofregeneration the inner city needed during the1970s was considerable, and the Council didnot have resources to deal with this on its own.What the Council had to do was to help createa climate in which developers would be keen toinvest in the older areas and in which peoplewould be happy to live. Most new developmentsduring the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s wereon the edge of town, and allied with the declineof older industry, left a depressing environmentin the older areas. To rectify this the Counciladopted a simple, practical policy:

· Recreate the close grained appeal of theinner city, with small scale industry closeto housing areas, and supporting thevariety of local shopping areas.

· Root new development in the past bykeeping and working around serviceableold property.

· Use publicly funded new development tocreate confidence.

· Spend public money on environmentalimprovements that are of lasting quality,that will encourage people to invest theirlives in that area.

To achieve this the Council bought smaller scalederelict property and demolished it either forenvironmental work or to sell on to others asdevelopment sites. Meanwhile, CamperdownWorks was languishing and festering becauseof its size. In 1985 an English demolitioncontractor bought the property and demolishedthe buildings which were not listed and left thesite in a terrible mess. Vandals made the situationworse. The new owner hoped also to profitfrom the sale of the site. During 1986-9 variousarchitects and developers brought forward

schemes which mainly involved filling the sitewith supermarkets and retail warehouses. Notonly was this against the Council�s policies butthere was no respect for the heritage of thesite and there was no serious desire to rescuemost of the important buildings.

Plan of the development

The Rebirth of Camperdown Works

In 1990 good fortune befell the site, when localdeveloper Mr Michael Johnston, purchased mostof what is the current redevelopment site anddetermined to achieve a useful comprehensivedevelopment. His first thought was to have afew warehouses (not retail warehouses) alongHarefield Road with housing on the remainder(March 1990). Then he thought there mightbe an opportunity to develop leisure uses insteadof warehousing. Although not exactly what theCouncil originally had in mind it was not againstmajor policies and was imaginative. Outlineplanning consent was granted (June 1990).Detailed consent for the Megabowl, nightcluband bar was then granted, following extensivediscussions on how to give the imposing HighMill and Cox�s Stack the best setting and howto not prejudice the potential to involve anotherlisted building, the Calender Works (now Tescosupermarket), in the development (this was notthen part of the site and was still in use bySidlaw Industries, September 1990).Meanwhile, Mr Johnston negotiated the sale of

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ground at Camperdown Street and BurnsideStreet to two local housing associations andbuilders for housing development and purchasedthe High Mill to develop as flats by his owncompany. He then purchased the formerCalender buildings at Methven Street and theformer stables and paddock which were not partof the original development site, and persuadedWm Low to be part of the grant redevelopment.This was acceptable because Methven Streetadjoins the High Street where retailing isencouraged.

Further planning consents rapidly followed:

D16052 Consent for Bingo Hall (March 1991)D15966 Consent for supermarket (Tesco) (March 1991)

(Nightclub, fast food, etc)D16502 Consent for new housing for rent, (November 1991)

Site 2, Burnside Street 64 houses and flats and conversion ofrailway warehouses to flats for sale,Site 3, 36 flats (Cleghorn Housing Association)

D16501 Consent for conversion of the High Mill into 85 flats and for the (December 1991)development of parkland (Cox Johnston Ltd)(December 1991)Consent for private housing Site 4 Wellbank Lane, 100 housesand flats

D16653 Consent for Multi-screen cinemas (February 1992)D16890 Consent for 51 houses at Site 4a (December 1991)D18874 Consent for 42 houses at Site 4b (December 1993)

This was one of the biggest and most complexredevelopment projects the city hadencountered and the pace of design andplanning applications was intensive. Behind therapid pace were a few serious negotiations, themost important of which was trying to start therehabilitation of the High Mill to the developmentof the cinema to ensure the most important partof the jigsaw did happen. However, the processwas relatively painless because the quality ofwhat was being proposed was good, imaginativeand resulted in the variety and close grainreferred to earlier.

The fact that the developer had the foresight toengage a good firm of architects, James FStephen, Architects, and insist they were used

for each development, should not beunderestimated. As a result of this the cohesionof the development is evident. Architecturallythe significant points to note are the referencesto the heritage of the site. There is the re-useof the high Mill, the railway warehouses andthe former Calender building (supermarket).There is the retention of part of the office buildingand gate lodge wall forming a courtyard to thesheltered flats along with the works gate piersand the way the warden�s house at the shelteredflats acts in the same way as the gate lodgedid. In the parkland area the stack has a goodsetting and the boiler range arches and part ofthe railway bridge abutments serve to remindus of the way the site was used. Some of thecast iron columns form a gateway.

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Along Burnside Street the former high stone wallhas been built into the gables of the housesthere reflecting the fact that originally factorybuildings did likewise. The big leisure buildingsare simple but elegant and have an appropriateindustrial scale and the brickwork reflects thepolychrome patterns found on the stack.similarly, in the new housing you can find asequence of patterns taken from the stack.

The new development

The Impact of the Redevelopment onthe City

What is the redevelopment doing for thelocality? There is no doubt there is an increasingvitality in Lochee. Many people from elsewherevisit to enjoy the leisure activities andsupermarket. The new residents will increasethe local spending power helping shops survive.Choice of housing is being greatly improved withhouses and flats to rent and to buy, and withexcellent provision for elderly people and forsome people confined to wheelchairs.

Although the housing and parkland developmenthas required grant assistance from ScottishHomes the end result is a development whichshould help sustain the locality and is a firstclass example of sensitive and sensibleredevelopment and of making a place for peopleto stay.

One worrying trend has seen the vacancy rateswithin the Stack Leisure Park increasedramatically. Only the Bingo and Bowlingfacilities remain open. The remaining five unitsare closed. Whether this is a temporarysituation, only time will tell.

Plan showing vacancies within the leisure park

Black and white photograph courtesy of D. C. ThomsonAll maps reproduced from Ordnance Survey Mapping with the permission of the controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Crown copyright.Unauthorised reproduction infringes crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Licence no. LA09026L

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