Taybank Works, Arbroath Road, Dundee

The Taybank Works comprises a power loom factory, a calender, and a jute spinning mill, built between approximately 1860 and 1873, with subsequent additions and alterations. The complex is located on Arbroath Road, Dundee, at the corner of Morgan Street.

The initial power loom factory, dating to circa 1860-1, is a single-storey building on the corner. The south elevation features nine top-hopper windows set within corbelled recessed bays. The west elevation has seven bays, with the three southern bays possessing double-pitched roofs and bipartite round-headed sash and case windows in the gables. Between 1919 and 1921, four bays were added to the north, with angled, north-lit roofs, except for the northern dressing bay. The east elevation retains five original bipartite windows similar to the west elevation, with two later altered to be north-lit. The sixth bay features a two-storey gable containing a hoist, and the seventh bay, along with the two-storey section of the sixth bay, provides north and south lighting and incorporates louvred ridge ventilators for steam dressing. The roofs are slate, with long north-facing skylights and later ventilators.

Adjoining the factory to the north is a calender, built in 1921. It features three taller, angled, north-lit gables with oculi, eight tall windows, and an original loading bay on its west elevation.

The three-storey jute spinning mill, constructed in 1873 by Pearce Brothers of Lilybank Foundry, has an eight-by-three-bay footprint. The south elevation has altered ground-floor windows and an attic-level band course and main cornice. Window openings originally designed for top-hopper fenestration have been altered for toilet facilities. Large, blocked roundheaded windows indicate the location of a former engine house that extends to the north, with a piended roof. The north elevation is open at ground floor, and the east gable is brick, reflecting plans for a planned but unbuilt seven-bay extension. A wooden boarding covers the cast-iron roof truss. A cast iron fire escape is also present. The roof is a mansard design covered in slate, with continuous skylights to the north and south.

Internally, the power loom factory contains six rows of cast-iron columns for the three southern bays, supporting collar beam roofs which are plastered for fireproofing. Original multi-raftered skylights remain, along with wrought iron ties featuring ogee bosses and shouldered arched recesses in the west wall. Standard north-lit timber roof trusses are found to the north. A small, two-storey section with a concrete floor is also present; the seventh bay houses a double dressing machine from 1919-21, one of a pair.

The calender features two rows of tall cast-iron columns supporting wide-span timber roofs. A mezzanine timber floor, supported by short cast-iron columns and steel beams, accommodates light finishing machines arranged in a U-shape around heavy machinery. A large, complete five-bowl calender by Robertson and Orchar from 1921, one of a pair, is also present.

The mill’s fireproof interior includes two rows of cast-iron columns carrying cast-iron beams, wrought-iron ties, and brick arches. The ground-floor columns have been replaced with steel and concrete pillars. The engine house and rope race now have a floor inserted, but retain hooks in the boarded ceiling and batching tanks. A superb curvilinear traceried cast-iron roof spans the space, with further traceried beams at the west end designed to receive rope drives and a lift.