Dundee, a city renowned for Jute, Jam and Journalism. In the 18th century the city was already an established centre of textile production, mainly in linen, and made huge quantities of sail cloth for Europe. By the 1830s, jute was produced to supplement linen production and gradually took over until the city became known as ‘Juteopolis’. Janet Keillor, discovered marmalade in the late 1700s. She came upon the recipe through trying to find a use for bitter Seville oranges. Her recipe was developed by her son, James Keillor, who opened Keillor’s factory, famous the world over for producing jams and marmalades. DC Thomson, publishers of The Beano, The Dandy, The Sunday Post and the People’s Friend, was established in 1905 and still employs around 2000 people to this day. It is the home of Dennis the Menace and the Bash Street Kids

'Verdant' seems a strange word to use for a jute factory in the middle of a city, but in 1833, when the jute mill was just starting up, there was an abundance of greenery and nature surrounding the mill.

The ready availability of water (the Scouring Burn) made it a perfect location for a mill. In 1864 the Works ran three steam engines driving 70 power looms and 2,800 spindles. 500 people were employed, making Verdant the 16th biggest employer in the Dundee jute industry of the time.


Working conditions in mills across Scotland were unimaginable in this day and age. Long hours amongst dangerous machines with little to no health and safety precautions were endured by thousands of people, working for minimum wage and living in poverty and battling ‘mill fever’, which often lead to respiratory diseases like bronchitis. Women outnumbered men three to one in the mills, earning our city of Discovery the nickname of ‘she town’.

Unfortunately Verdant Works ceased production and later fell off the register of mills in Dundee in 1889, but then, during the 1900s, under ownership of Alexander Thomson & Sons, Verdant Works was used as a site for recycling jute waste built up as a result of the city’s thriving factories; to cure rabbit skins; and to deal in scrap metal.

Dundee Heritage Trust purchased (the then derelict) Verdant Works in 1991 and began a sympathetic refurbishment of this courtyard type mill, and in 1996, Verdant Works was officially opened to the public as Scotland’s jute museum.

In the third PiP is a volunteer, who worked at the mill in the mid 20th century. She is is chage of the weaving machine, and when she switched it on it was deafening. Hard to imagine the noise that would have been made with all the machinery in this large room once upon a time.