Main Weaving Shop. General view from South-West.

Description Main Weaving Shop. General view from South-West.

Date 22/4/1980

Catalogue Number AN 4333

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 787436

Scope and Content Main weaving shop of Upper Dens Works, Princes Street, Dundee This is the main weaving shed in the factory built to the north of Upper Dens Mill. The factory was built in 1839 and consisted of four sheds. The cast-iron columns were used to support the roof. The power-looms would have been placed between the columns, and the machinery which transmitted the power from the engine to the looms was under the floor. According to Carmichael, the factory held 216 looms when it opened, employing 300-400 people. Dundee was an industrial centre in the 19th century, specialising in textile production. Jute and flax were the fibres which were spun and woven, and then exported. Because many of the textile jobs were for women, Dundee had fewer employment opportunities for men, who tended to leave the city to seek work elsewhere. The founder of the Baxters company, William Baxter (1766-1854), opened his first mill for spinning flax in 1822 in Lower Dens, Dundee. During the 19th century the company added other buildings to the complex, becoming the biggest manufacturers of linen in the world around 1840. They maintained this position for another 50 years. Due to the demise of the textile trade in Dundee many of the buildings were demolished in the 1980s. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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