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Dundee is port city on the east coast of
Scotland, 63 miles north of Edinburgh, 66
miles south of Aberdeen.
The main attractions are the famous Discovery Ship that was used in
Antarctic explorations, V&A
Museum next to Discovery, the McManus Museum and Art Gallery, and
Jute Museum for when Dundee
supplied most of the world with hessian type
cloth.
For Images on Mobile swipe right
Click On Map for area Attractions
Camping & Touring Parks in
area
The City is also known as the home of the
publishers D.C. Thomson with their comics the
Beano and Beezer, where Timex watches were
produced from the 1950s to 1990s, Home
Computers from 1981, and some of the earliest
computer games from the 1980s.
The image top right is of Discovery Point
where the ship Discovery is docked as a Museum.
This is one of the most famous ships in the
world, used in Antarctic explorations in the
early 1900s. The ship is a short walk from the
town centre, where the 1 mile long Dundee Road
Bridge crosses the River Tay.
The image second top is of the V&A
Design Museum next to Discovery that opened in
September 2018.
Also on the riverside are the Slessor
Gardens, Wakeboarding at
Victoria Dock,
and HMS Unicorn
Museum at Victoria Dock, a 46 gun warship
launched in 1824.
The Steeple Church
and Market Cross are on the Nethergate close to
the High Street. Most of the Church seen today
was completed in 1844. This building also
contains St Mary's Church. Both churches were
damaged by fire in 1841. The Tower dates to
around the 1480s. The tower is the oldest
surviving building in Dundee, used as a Watch
Tower and Prison. Large
Image.
The Market Cross was built in 1586 at the
Old Tolbooth. It was moved in front of the
Steeple Church in 1874 after many of the older
buildings in Dundee were demolished.
Dundee City Square on the High Street was
completed in 1923, on the site of an earlier
Town House. A statue of Desperate Dan from the
Beano comic was erected at the City Square in
2001. This is the main shopping area in the
city. The Caird Hall at
the City Square holds many of the top events in
the City.
St Paul's Anglican
Cathedral, completed in 1855, is on the
High Street by the City Square. This Cathedral
was built on the site of a medieval Castle
involved in the First War of Scottish
Independence of the 1300s. That Castle was
besieged by the forces of William Wallace,
Andrew de Moray, and Robert the Bruce.
The McManus Museum and Art Gallery,
completed in 1867, is on Albert Square a short
walk northwest of the High Street. The building
gives information on the history of Dundee with
many ship models and information on Whaling and
Jute at Dundee
from the 1820s.
In 2018, the McManus hosted an exhibition
for the Beano’s 80th
anniversary between June and October. Hopefully
the Museum will retain much of the exhibition
for the Dundee based DC Thomson that created
the Beano. Large
Image.
A statue of Oor Wullie from
the Sunday Post comic strip was unveiled
outside the McManus in 2016.
Dundee Science
Centre opened in 2000, a short walk south
of the ship Discovery. The Centre's interactive
exhibits focus on life sciences and the
senses.
St Andrews Cathedral and Dundee Contemporary Arts are next to
the Science Centre. DCA opened in 1999 with
contemporary art galleries, two-screen cinema,
print studio, artwork shop, and cafe bar.
St Andrew's
Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral completed
in 1836.
Dundee Law is a
572ft feet high point with great views over the
city and its two long bridges crossing the
River Tay. This hill was used for Prehistoric
Graves dating to about 1500 BC, and as Iron Age
Hillfort.
Broughty Castle is 5 miles north of
Dundee centre in Broughty Ferry. The Castle has
a popular free museum, and the area has a sandy
beach, kids play, Glasshouse Restaurant, Vast
Rock Garden, and Fast Boat Tours depart from the
Harbour.
Glamis Castle is 12 miles north of
Dundee, one of the top Castles to visit in
Scotland. This 1300s Castle was the home of the
Queen Mother. Princess Margaret was born at
Glamis Castle in 1930.
Dundee History
800BC - an Iron Age Fort was built at Dundee
Law, a hill in the middle of present day
Dundee.
1000s - Dundee grew as a seaport after
William the
Lion granted Dundee to his younger brother
David.
1292 - Dundee became a Royal Burgh while
under control of David's descendant John
Balliol.
1296 - 1328 - Dundee and its Castle were
occupied by English forces during the First War of
Independence
1312 - Dundee was re-taken by Robert the
Bruce.
1480s - the Steeple Church is built on
Nethergate by the High Street.
1543 - 1550 - Dundee was extensively damaged
during the 1500s Battles
between England and Scotland as the English
tried to force Mary Queen of Scots to mary the
son of King Henry VIII.
1548 - the English occupiers burned much of
Dundee before fleeing from advancing Scots
forces.
1586 - the Market Cross was built by the Old
Tolbooth.
1645 - Dundee was besieged during the
Wars of the Three
Kingdoms by the Royalists. This war was
over religious difference throughout Great
Britain.
1651 - Dundee was destroyed by
Parliamentarian forces.
1688 - James II Stuart was forced to flee to
France during the Glorious
Revolution as English Parliamentarians
claimed he was a Catholic with close ties to
their enemy France.
1689 - John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee,
raised the Stuart standard on Dundee Law in
support of James II. These supporters would
become known as Jacobite's
1716 January 6th - James Francis Edward
Stuart, son of King James II, visited Dundee as
many locals regarded him as the rightful king.
A series of battles were fought between 1715
and 1746 with the Jacobite's finally defeated
by Government forces at the Battle of
Culloden.
1742 - a government subsidy led to large
Mills opening in Dundee for producing Linen and
Twine from Flax and Jute. This industry
employed 50,000 people at one point.
1750s - Whaling out of Dundee to the Arctic
escalated with local shipbuilders building many
Whaling ships. Whale oil was used in the
treatment of Jute, lighting, and in soap.
1820s - Steam Ferries
began operating over the River Tay, over one
mile in distance.
1836 - St Andrew's Catholic Cathedral is
completed.
1841 - the Steeple Church and St Mary's were
damaged by fire.
1844 - The Steeple church and St Mary's were
rebuilt.
1855 - St Paul's Anglican Cathedral was
completed.
1867 - the McManus Museum and Art Gallery
was completed.
1874 - the Market Cross was moved in front
of the Steeple Church after many of the older
buildings in Dundee were demolished such as the
Tolbooth and Castle.
1878 - the First Tay Rail Bridge was opened
at just under 3 miles long.
1879 December - the First Tay Rail Bridge
collapsed as a train carrying 75 passengers and
crew was crossing with all 75 dying.
1887 - the Second Tay Rail
Bridge is opened next to where the first
bridge was.
1892-93 - the first known photographs of
Antarctica were taken by a Dundee whaling
expedition.
1893 - Dundee Football
Club was formed.
1901 - the ship RRS Discovery was launched
in Dundee. This ship was famous for being used
in three Antarctic voyages with Captain Scott
and Ernest
Shackleton.
1909 - Dundee United
Football Club was formed.
1947 - the US business Timex opens a large
factory in Dundee to make watches for sale
around the world.
1963 - the last Whaling ships in Scotland
were sold off. Mineral and plant oil had had
become more abundant and less expensive to
produce.
1966 - the Tay Road Bridge
is opened at over one mile long, replacing the
Tay Ferries.
1969 - Broughty Castle 4 miles north of
Dundee centre is opened as a free museum.
1981 - Timex at Dundee begin manufacturing
ZX81 and ZX Spectrum home computers fo Sinclair
Research.
1986 - RRS Discovery was transported to
Dundee to serve as a museum.
1993 - the Timex factory in Dundee
closed.
1996 - The Verdant Works
Jute Mill was transformed into a museum showing
machinery and the lives of those who worked in
the Jute Mills.
1999 - the last of the Jute Spinners in
Dundee closed. There were 150 Jute spinners in
Dundee at its peak, 39 by 1950 as many had
relocated to India.
2000 - Dundee Science Centre opened by the
Waterfront.
2001 - a 30 year regeneration scheme began
transforming the Dundee Waterside into one of
the top attractions in Scotland.
2001 - a statue of Desperate Dan of the
Beano comic was erected at the City Square.
2013 - Lemings Statues
were erected on Perth Road in Dundee. The
statues are in honour of the company Acme
Software founded in Dundee in 1984 by local
classmates. Lemmings is a dynamic puzzle game
originally released for Amiga in February 1991.
More
Information.
2016 - a statue of Oor Wullie from the
Sunday Post comic strip was placed outside the
McManus Museum.
2018 September - the V&A Design Museum
opens at Dundee Waterfront.
Today - Dundee is home to a number of Tech
companies involved in the Gaming industry with
games such as Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto,
fiting considering the City is where the first
modern home computers were built in the
1980s.
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