Verdant Works Museum Dundee
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The Verdant Works Museum is in Albert Square
about half of a mile from Dundee centre.
The Museum can be visited all year with an
entrance fee. Postcode: DD1 5BT
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The image top is of the Verdant Works Museum
about half of a mile west of the City centre on
W Henderson's Wynd. The Museum covers the
Manufacturing of Jute, Water Powered Mills,
Steam Powered Mills, Workers Lives, and the
Wealthy Jute Barons.
Jute is a hard
wearing, inexpensive Fibre for Cloth to
manufacture Sacks, Curtains, Chair Coverings,
Carpets, Rugs, and Hessian Cloth.
In the late 1800s, Dundee had around 60 Jute
Mills with over 50,000 Workers, basically
Manufacturing Jute for the entire World.
The Fibre is made from Corchorus Plants
grown in warm wet countries such as India. Jute
is the second most produced Fibre after
Cotton that is
produced from Cotton Plants.
Linen is also a
popular Cloth made from the Fibers of the Flax
Plant, similar to Jute but not as course.
Along with Wool from various Animals, these
were the main Materials for human use
throughout the centuries.
Man Made Fibres such as Nylon, often made from
Petrochemicals, were introduced from the 1930s.
About 45% of all Materials were made from Nylon
in the 1970s, although this has reduced since
the Material went out of fashion.
Polyester is
another Man Made Fibre used extensively in
Clothing and Soft Furnishings. This Material
was first Manufactured in the 1940s, becoming
popular in the late 1950s. This is another
Material that went out of fashion. Recently
though, Clothing made from Polyester Microfiber
has become popular.
Jute also had a Fashion Crisis over the
years before becoming popular with Designers in
the 2010s.
Dundee Jute History
1790s - Dundee had a number of Mills
manufacturing Linen out of Flax Plants grown in
the UK and imported from countries around the
Baltic Sea.
1820s - the first Jute Mills are opened in
Dundee as the City had a large Whaling Fleet
providing an abundance of Whale Oil needed to
treat the Jute before Spinning. The Corchorus
Plants for the manufacturing of Jute were
imported from India.
1833 - the High Mill is opened in Dundee to
produce Jute with three Steam Engines, 70
Looms, and 2,800 Spindles. The Mill and
neighbouring Weavers employed around 500 people
Spinning and Weaving Jute.
1850s - saw India becoming part of the
British Empire and Mills becoming more
Mechanized, leading to Dundee producing vast
amounts of Jute for countries around the
world.
The Jute Barons made vast amounts of money
through the Industry while providing jobs for
over 50,000 people in Dundee.
1900 - the Barons began setting up Jute
Mills in India to save on Transporting Costs of
the Raw Material. This led to the Decline of
the Jute Mills in Dundee.
1930s - first Man Made Fibers are produced
such as Nylon and Polyester, taking much of the
market for Clothing and Furnishings.
1947 - the US business Timex opens a
huge factory in Dundee to make use of workers
laid off from the Jute Mills. Timex made
Watches, then in the 1980s, Computers such as
the ZX81 and ZX Spectrum.
1970s, late - 5,000 people worked for
Timex.
1993 - the Timex Factory closed.
1996 - the High Mill opens as the Verdant
Works Jute Museum in Dundee. This 1833 Mill had
closed some years earlier.
1999 - last of the Jute Spinners in Dundee
closed.
2018 - the disused Bell Mill and North Mill
on Constable Street were converted to the
Hotel Indigo
Dundee.
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