View of pond from South. Digital image of AN 4356

Description View of pond from South. Digital image of AN 4356

Date 22/4/1980

Catalogue Number SC 787445

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of AN 4356

Scope and Content Former pond at Upper Dens Works, Princes Street, Dundee, from south In the foreground is one of the ponds used by Baxter's. According to Peter Carmichael (d.1891), engineer-manager at Baxter's from 1833 onwards, Baxter's was very fortunate as their mills had access to more water than any of the other mills in Dundee. The company created ponds by damming the River Den. Water was important both in the production of linen and for use in the event of fire, as textiles were very flammable. In the 19th century Dundee was very badly off for water. In the 1830s, when Peter Carmichael started work, there were nine wells which were used for the inhabitants, as well as water from the countryside which was brought in on carts and sold. 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/787445

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap