View of engine house from North-West. Digital image of AN 4352

Description View of engine house from North-West. Digital image of AN 4352

Date 22/4/1980

Catalogue Number SC 787440

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of AN 4352

Scope and Content Engine house at Upper Dens Works, Princes Street, Dundee, from north-west This decorative engine house with fanlit windows dates to 1885. The engine would have been used to power the weaving looms in the North Factory which was built in 1855. The building is two storeys high and four bays wide, and demonstrates how industrial buildings were often designed to be decorative as well as functional. The Baxter Brothers had led the way in linen weaving in Dundee, becoming the first company (in 1836) to use power looms for the weaving of linen, and as a result, turning weaving into a factory-based system. Previously, much linen had been woven by hand in peoples' homes. 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.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/787440

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap