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Dundee, 133-139 (Odd Nos) Nethergate, Morgan Tower

Tenement (18th Century)

Site Name Dundee, 133-139 (Odd Nos) Nethergate, Morgan Tower

Classification Tenement (18th Century)

Alternative Name(s) 143b Nethergate

Canmore ID 184074

Site Number NO32NE 58

NGR NO 39938 29889

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/184074

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Dundee, City Of
  • Parish Dundee (Dundee, City Of)
  • Former Region Tayside
  • Former District City Of Dundee
  • Former County Angus

Architecture Notes

ARCHITECT: Samuel Bell 1790

NMRS REFERENCE

See Historical File (1.12)

Late C18 block of flats with a projecting five storey bow fronted tower. The tower has four Venetian windows and is capped with an ogee slated roof.

Photographed for the Buildings of Scotland publications by the RCAHMS Listed Buildings Area Survey

August 2010.

Activities

Watching Brief (1999)

A watching brief by SUAT Ltd in 1999 on the internal refurbishment of an 18th-century building revealed a flagstone floor, blocked doorways, disused iron ranges, a change in first floor level, perhaps the late addition of a distinctive bow-fronted tower, and various structural details. A child's burial under the floor probably belongs to the nearby medieval hospital.

The surviving fabric of the building preserves evidence of various changes. The ceiling of the bow-fronted room has clearly been raised at some time, with great disruption to the floor above, and the bow itself may be a late addition. The shallow foundations of wall 1 are surprising although it supported only the floor above, not further masonry at higher levels. The composite lintel 12 is curiously frugal for a rather prestigious buildings, and suggests that big softwood timbers were in short supply when the building was constructed. Any further modifications to this building or its neighbours would clearly repay observation and record.

The human remains are probably of medieval date; they lay under the foundation of wall 1, and continue under flagstone floor 3, neither of which show signs of disturbance before the present work began. The excellent condiition of the teeth combined with absence of dental treatment would be practically unknown in the modern Scottish population, where one would find either good dental health combined with evidence of occasional dental treatment, or general neglect combining absence of dental treatment with severe dental problems…

The human remains from the present site can most naturally be related to the medieval hospital just to the south-east of the present site. This is consistent with the cartographic evidence explained above, showing that the present site lay within the hospital grounds… Any future excavations under the present building or its neighbours may be expected to produce more evidence of the hospital burial ground.

Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust. 1999. Watching Brief at Morgan Tower, 135 Nethergate, Dundee

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