McManus Museum Dundee

The McManus Museum & Art Gallery in Albert Square close to Dundee centre, built from 1867.

The Museum can be visited all year free of charge. Postcode: DD1 1DA

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The image top is of the McManus Museum and Art Gallery from the south with a Statue of Robert Burns in front. Large Image. There is also a statue of Queen Victoria on the west side, and one of Oor Wullie on the east side.

The Building itself is one of the most interesting designs in Scotland to view. The Museum contents mainly cover the History of Dundee through Shipbuilding, Whaling in the Arctic, Jute Mills, Timex Watch and Computer manufacturing, and Publishing with D.C. Thomson in Dundee producing iconic comics such as the Beano, Topper, and Beezer.

McManus History

1861 - Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria died aged 42. This led to people in Dundee wanting to construct an impressive Building in his honour.

The ground on which the Building was constructed is boggy, so it had to be underpinned with large wooden beams. A large Tower in the original design had to be replaced by a smaller Spire.

1867 - the Building was opened under the name Albert Institute, mainly for use as a Public Library.

1873 - the Building was enlarged to hold a Museum and Art Gallery.

1880 - a Statue of the poet Robert Burns was erected at the south side of the Building. Burns only visited Dundee once, so such an expensive Memorial showed just how popular he was in Scotland during that time.

1899 - a large bronze Statue of Queen Victoria was unveiled on the west side of the Building by her son Duke of Connaught. He was also visiting Dundee to open a Hospice.

1959 - the Building was taken over by the City then renamed the McManus in honour of the Lord Provost, Maurice McManus.

1976 - Cracks were found in the Building due to rotten timbers used in construction.

1979 - Concrete and Cross Beams were used to stop the Subsidence of the Building.

2005 - the McManus was closed to the public for a £7 million redevelopment.

2010 - the McManus was re-opened to the public.

2016 - an Oor Wullie Statue was erected on the east side of the McManus becoming a popular photo spot.

2018 - a D.C. Thomson exhibition was set up at the McManus covering their Comics such as the Beano. This has proved extremely popular, so many of the exhibits may be retained?

Top McManus Exhibits by Earliest

4000BC - artifacts of Hunter Gatherers that roamed the Dundee area

800BC - artifacts from an Iron Age hill fort on Dundee Law

332BC - Egyptian artifacts

485 - Log Boat found in the River Tay

600s - early Pictish carved stones

1555 - Astrolabe used by Sailors to Navigate the high seas, oldest known one of its type in the world.

1700s - 1900s - Dundee Shipbuilding for Steamers and Whale Ships.

1750s - Whaling Ship Models with many built in Dundee, Harpoons, Whale Skeleton, and items brought back from the Native People of the Arctic.

1820 - many Jute Mills in Dundee converting this vegetable fibre into twine for manufacturing hard wearing Cloth for sacks, curtains, chair coverings, carpets, rugs, and hessian cloth. Whale Oil was used to treat the fabric.

1921 - the Painting by Joseph Gray of the Dundee Advertiser showing his fellow soldiers after the bloody battle of Neuve Chapelle during World War One.

Other top paintings include: the earliest painting of a Football Match by Alexander Carse, work by the Glasgow Boys, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti's 'Dante's Dream on the Day of the Death of Beatrice'.

1942 - Winkie the heroic Pigeon that saved many lives during World War Two.

1900s - Watches, Computers and Computer Games as Dundee had a Timex factory from the 1950s to 1990s that produced Watches, Computers, and innovative small TVs. Dundee also produced some of the earliest home Computer Games such as Lemmings.

1950s - today - D.C. Thomson publishers of Dundee for the production of comics such as the Beano, Topper, and Beezer.

The Beano top characters are: Bash Street Kids, Billy Whizz, Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, Numskulls, Roger the Dodger, and Tricky Dicky.

The Topper and Beezer top characters are: Big Uggy, Desert Island Dick, Ghastly Manor, Jimmy Jinx, and Keyhole Kate.