Description

Gilroy Brothers' Engineering Department, 1851, 1863-5,
3- and 4-storey and attic 58-bay jute mill in 2 adjoining
pedimented blocks, coursed rubble with ashlar quoins and
dressings. Slate roofs.
S block by Joseph Lindsay (later of Urquhart, Lindsay and
Co) 1865; 3-storey and attic 23-bay mill. Advanced quoined
5-bay central section with channelled ashlar ground floor,
large segmental arched cart entrance with original ornate
wooden gates, bold voussoirs and keystone, and 2
roundheaded openings to each side. Band course. 1st floor
windows in margins with aprons and consoled pediments,
2 segmental 2nd floor windows in architraves with arched
shell heads. Large pediment with dentil cornice, carved
foliated tympanum, shield dated 1865 with cyphers of R,
G and A Gilroy and apex acroterion. 10-bay S wing with 2
advanced bays at end. Main cornice.
S elevation 3-bay gable end with large ground floor arched
door, now a window, 2 oculi and window in gable head over
cornice continuing from main elevation. Apex ball finial.
3-storey and attic. 7-bay extension along Guthrie Street
built between 1865 and 1871. W gable blank except doors
to the now demolished Arch Mill.
Section N of pediment, an 1865 rebuild of 1830s mill.
3-storey and attic, 8 bays including engine house at N
with consoled pediment over blocked window. 1st floor large
in architrave, formerly with round arched head.
N block 4-storey and attic 35-bay mill with 5-storey,
7-bay central section.
(a) South Mill, 1851, 14 bays including 2 advanced quoined
bays at each end. Cast-iron spandrels at ground floor of W
elevation formerly carried roof linking main block to
West Mill (25 Brown Street). Main cornice continued on S
gable cut by 1865 mill roof; attic sash and case window
and 2 oculi. Ball finial.
(b) 1863-4 5-storey, 7-bay "Centre Mill", with original
wooden framed segmental-headed windows. 2 1st floor hoist
doors. Main cornice. 4th floor windows divided by pilasters,
cornice above. Small pediment with Dundee arms. Square
plinth formerly, statue of Minerva. Acroteria and urns.
(c) North Mill, 1863-4, similar to 1851 South Mill. 3-bay
N gable elevation with ground floor adjoining Dudhope
Works. 2 oculi and window in gable head. Apex ball finial.
W elevation similar to E elevation, except that S block
lacks a pediment. Main engine house has tall round-headed
1st floor window over blocked consoled pedimented window
at ground floor. N block has simple oculus in pediment
with acroteria and urns. Ground floor of North Mill had
access to weaving sheds via large openings under cast-iron
lintels. 3 wooden boxes project at 2nd and 3rd floors for
hoists. All windows are original sash and case, multi-paned
in the main mill blocks and 4-paned in central sections,
except 2nd floor of S block which has later 2-paned sash
and case windows. 2 bipartite for offices. Occasional hoist
doors. Interior: each floor has 2 rooms of tall cast-iron
columns with flanged capitals carrying cast-iron beams
and brick arches with wrought-iron ties. Various internal
stairs, hoists, gearing rooms with wall-boxes, main engine
house has wooden floors, stairs and cast-iron features.
Attics have fine single-span wrought-iron tie roofs except
central section of N block which has perpendicular gothic
cast-iron trusses on 2 rows of clustered columns.

Statement of Interest

At 650', one of the longest textile mills in Britain. W

Boyack's works were founded in about 1833, becoming the

biggest flax works in Angus in 1836 but bankrupt in 1842.

In 1849 "Hospital Ward Mill" was bought and renamed "Tay

Works" by Gilroy Brothers and Co (Robert George and

Alexander - the RGA cypher in the 1865 pediment). Became

in 1877 Gilroy Sons and Co, the world's second biggest

jute manufacturers with plantations near Calcutta and their

own ships for jute imports. Specialised in jute carpeting

and so became the chief carpet works of Jute Industries

Ltd, 1920, with a large dyeworks on Brown Street. Converted

to student residences 1986.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17575413

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period property manual, victorian house manual 2 books collection set by ian rock
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)