{"id":4471,"date":"2024-08-06T14:19:27","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T13:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningspaces.dundee.ac.uk\/dundeeuniculture\/?p=4471"},"modified":"2025-09-15T10:46:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T09:46:29","slug":"camperdown-works-the-worlds-largest-jute-factory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/camperdown-works-the-worlds-largest-jute-factory\/","title":{"rendered":"Camperdown Works: The World’s Largest Jute Factory"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 19th century Lochee was home to the huge Camperdown Works, the heart of the Cox family’s jute empire.<\/p>\n

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Camperdown Works 1970s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The family had been involved in the manufacture of linen in the area in the 18th century and moved into jute the following century. Camperdown Works was begun in 1849 and at one point covered 25 acres and by 1900 employed 5000 staff.<\/p>\n

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The Cox brothers in the 19th century<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The factory complex had its own half time school, fire station and railway branch. Its famous brick chimney, known as Cox’s Stack, remains a familiar sight in Dundee and at 282 feet is Scotland’s tallest surviving industrial chimney.<\/p>\n

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Initial design for the chimney<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Production at the works ceased in 1981 and it was partially demolished to make way for Stack’s Leisure Park.<\/p>\n

This blog is by the University Archives – find out more about Camperdown Works by watching this short film by Kenneth, one of the archivists.<\/p>\n