| Lost Dundee: Dundee's Lost Architectural Heritage. - Charles McKean and Patricia Whatley with Kenneth Baxter. |
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Like a lot of people I always believed that Dundee's history concerned only jute, jam and journalism, so Lost Dundee: Dundee's Lost Architectural Heritage was a revelation. This book is written in three parts showing Renaissance Dundee; manufacturing Dundee, nicknamed "Juteopolis"; and the University City that it is today. It is well illustrated and is obviously well researched.
The authors believe that through a process of modernisation at all costs, Dundee lost both its identity and its memory. They highlight the removal of the streets, wynds, entries, buildings and courts that were a major part of the city's character in a craving for modernity which led to a four-part clearance plan beginning in 1871 and lasting for over 100 years.
I particularly liked Part One (1500-1820), because this depicted a Dundee unknown to me, part of the lost memories indicated by the authors. This was Renaissance Dundee, when the sea lapped the back garden walls of the Seagate houses and the shore followed the line of Fish Street, later replaced by Whitehall Crescent.
At this time Dundee was a seaport, and between the 15th and the 17th century was the second most important port in Scotland - Edinburgh came first. Dundee's Market Place, the widest street, was where the High Street now stands and between there and the sea was a Maritime Quarter, a district of narrow, curved closes and wynds, designed to keep the wind away from the town centre. Likewise, the streets leading into the Market Place - the Cowgate, Seagate, Wellgate, Overgate and Nethergate - were all narrow for the same reason.
The architecture reflected the Baltic ports and the merchant venturers of the era lived in considerable style in impressive town houses with painted galleries. Dundee at this time apparently had more in common with European ports than it did with Scots burghs.
Also tackled are Dundee myths. One of those which surprised me was that of General Monk's siege in 1651. According to the authors the siege only lasted a single night, not months.
They reckon that 50 ships could not have been sunk outside the harbour with Dundee's wealth and records on board, and that many prisoners were taken to London, therefore quarter must have been given. Apparently, in 1651 the harbour was incapable of holding 50 ships, and the records purportedly lying on the bottom of the river are actually in the city archives.
Part Two (1820-1900), covers the rise of industry and how, owing to a lack of strategic planning by the ruling council, factories and mills were located higgledy-piggledy round the medieval centre, creating a planning problem.
Part Three (1900-2008), explores the rise of the modern university city. It covers the demolition of the Overgate for a nondescript shopping centre which was ultimately replaced by a modern shopping mall. The old Overgate had many historic features but preservation was not considered as it was not the ethos of the time.
Redevelopment has been a major focus of the push towards modernising Dundee and very little survives of its previous grandeur. One building, however, has survived - Gardyne's Land in the High Street, converted into a five-star hostel.
This is a fascinating book which depicts not only modern Dundee and industrial Dundee, but also a much grander renaissance city, now forgotten. |
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