Seaman's Chapel
Seaman's Chapel
The
Seamen's Chapel
was constructed in 1881, along with the adjoining Sailors' Home, to
designs by the notable Dundee architect David MacLaren. The Chapel and
Home are individually listed as category B.
Groupings of
interrelated buildings associated with maritime history were once
common in Scotland. By the end of the 19th century a series of chapels
and hostels serving seamen had sprung up in port towns and cities
across Scotland: Dundee, Greenock, Glasgow, Govan, Leith, Edinburgh,
Aberdeen, Eyemouth, South Queens Ferry and Musselburgh. However the
best surviving example of a purpose built sailors' home with attached
chapel appears to the one in Dundee. Despite the common occurrence of
these buildings many no longer exist. In Glasgow all of the sailors'
homes and chapels have now been demolished.
Maclaren
was briefed
to design, "a neat, substantial and commodious edifice without
wasting money on costly ornamental detail". In the event, the
construction costs of the Sailors' Home and Seamen's Chapel totalled
£12,413, approximately £200 below budget.
The
Sailors' Home,
despite the apparent parsimony of the organising committee, is a quite
extravagantly detailed 5-storey structure surmounted by a domed corner
turret. A dated cartouche, flanked by two large griffins sits at the
corner of the ground floor. A highly ornate 2-leaf cast-iron gate at
the centre of the ground floor features a sunburst motif fanlight,
containing the legend 'SAILORS HOME'. The same Peterhead granite is
used for the mullions on the ground floor of the Home as is used in the
supporting columns within the Chapel. The maritime associations of the
Home are emphasised by the wall head frieze at 3rd floor level, which
includes the names of famous sailors such as Nelson and Cook.
The
Seamen's Chapel
shows examples of a design which pre-empted Dundee's legacy of Arts and
Crafts and Art Nouveau architecture. Worthy of note are the internal
timber ventilation beams, originally thought to be wrought iron, with
their highly decorative design and the structural system of the roof
with timber trusses supported by steel tension members.
An
important
contributing factor to the significance of the Chapel is its obvious
association with its architect David MacLaren. MacLaren is a notable
figure in the history of the architecture of Dundee. Therefore as a
surviving example of his work the Seamen's Chapel is an important
physical historical record.
Whilst the Sailors'
home is currently under restoration and conversion into flats by its
owners the Chapel has stood empty and deteriorating for decades. Indeed
the removal of the chapel's roof, several years ago, to allow access to
and restoration of the Home's gable end has rapidly accelerated the
deterioration.
An
options appraisal
has been undertaken by TBPT with the hope of restoring the Chapel for
use as the Trust's HQ along with a joint conservation centre. The
conservation centre would be a place where local groups, with an
interest in the both the built and natural environments, could use the
facilities for office accommodation, meeting/conference space, display,
exhibition and storage.
As
part of the
planning consent granted for the conversion of the Sailors' Home into
flats and the construction of new flats on neighbouring waste ground
the owners have agreed to hand over the Chapel to TBPT in a wind and
water proof condition. However the consent was written in such a way
that this transaction need not take place until the owners start on the
new build.
In
the meantime, as
mentioned above, the roof of the Chapel has been removed to allow the
restoration of the Home and the building has remained in this state for
several years. This has allowed the ingress of water into the wall
heads, despite attempts by the owners to prevent this, which with
repeated processes of saturation, freezing, and drying, has lead to the
expansion of a crack on the front gable leaving the building in a
dangerous condition and the interior exposed to the full forces of the
elements.
TBPT still hopes to
take ownership of the Chapel and implement the findings of the options
appraisal and if the owners commence with the new build this may still
happen. However considering the rapid deteriorating of the building it
would be hoped that this is sooner than later.
