25/10/2026
Dens Road Market a wee story
Below is a wee story from Forum trustee Mike Seaton, we hope you enjoy it.
Rashiewell Works /Dens Road Market
At the beginning of the 19th century the textile industry in Dundee was largely a cottageoperation in the hands of women working at home. The change to factory working was not welcomed by all. One man lamented that young women could earn a livelihood at
home under the eyes of their parents in comparison with being crowded together in mills and factories, āwhere all sorts were employed.ā
By the time Charles Lucas opened the Clepington Power Loom Works in 1855 factory working was the norm. In 1876 the works with 90 power looms were advertised for sale as covering 220 poles of land with room on the plot for a Spinning Mill and Workmenās Houses. The upset price had been reduced to Ā£14,000. At the time there were no offers but some 3 years later Hutchison & Gray acquired the works, priced at Ā£11,000.
Towards the tail end of 1891 the mill hosted its First Annual Employees Festival. The festival began with a lecture on the benefits of capitalism by the owner of the works, basically saying that without capitalism they would not have jobs, followed by songs, an exhibition of āstep dancingā by a Mr Grant and pupils and then dancing āwith much spirit until a late hourā with everyone having a good time.
Just a few months later a sign appeared in the works warning of short time and possible dismissal. A little later the weavers went on strike for more pay on the grounds that they were being paid less than weavers in other factories. The strike was successful, but then the works was put up for sale again.
The buyer, for a bargain price, was William Cleghorn jun. His intention was to convert the Works, which crucially was advertised as having āan unfailing water supplyā into a paper mill to make brown and other coarse papers using rags and jute waste from
his own stores. It was to be the only paper mill in Dundee and Mr Cleghorn was widely praised for bringing new industry into the city. The factory provided work for 60-70 men and women. It was one of very few in Scotland due, at least in part, to the expense of the machinery.
Making paper is a very thirsty operation. Mr Cleghorn had taken the precaution of making sure his factory had a sufficient water supply. His supply came from three wells but, to allow for the extension of Arklay Street the Town Council diverted the supply Mr Cleghorn was counting on making the paper works no longer a viable proposition and he was obliged to close the paper works. The story goes that the works were built on a marshy area of ground on the site of an old well ā hence rashiewell.
The buildings, without the paper making machinery, were acquired 1905 by John N. Kyd.
Behind its main frontage on Dens Road, Works covered a large area from Arklay Street on the west to Dundonald Street on the north, where there were several corrugated iron warehouses. In 1911 a ālarge partā of the works were destroyed by fire throwing 250 staff out of work for an āindefiniteā period. Close to the end of 1924 Kyd announced his retiral for health reasons as Managing Director, at the same time setting up, with Ā£10,000 a trust or the future benefit of his workers.
In 1967 the factory buildings were put up for sale and a couple of years later plans were approved for the Green Market Association to convert part of the factory into a covered market. Quickly on the scene was one Joe Carroll. He was the archetypal self-made
man having acquired in a fairly short space of time two public houses in Dundee and a garage and a restaurant in Broughty Ferry. He also later, with family members, bought the Dens Road Market and the Queenās Hotel. He was a dedicated businessman, even
getting married on a Wednesday so as not to interfere with market days. The market originated on Shore Terrace in 1870 and thence to Craig Street, on to the Caledonian Halls in Ure Street and finally to Dens Road.
The former Rashiewell Works were buildings with problems. The effects of a fire in the autumn of 1996 were contained by the marketās sprinkler system which helped save the building but not much of the stock. In 1998 the Smokerās Guide to Scotland appeared. It listed premises where smokers were welcomed and included amongst the expected pubs and restaurants the Dens Road Market as āfag friendly.ā Dundee Council was not so friendly. Their environmental and consumer protection department found the building was suffering from structural defects, including rotting roof joists, broken and loose windowpanes, a leaking roof, and a damaged concrete floor.
Back in the 1990s the market boasted a wide range of second-hand items of furniture, clothing and electrical items including music cassette tapes, word processors and fax machines. Come the 21st century the market was still operating but in the face of āunfair competitionā from car boot sales. Joe Carroll applied for planning permission to replace the market buildings with a Ā£3.5m residential development. Presently the site, by now with derelict buildings awaits the outcome of a planning application which could see much needed social housing been built on the historic site
