Dundee, Kemback Street, Wellfield Works

Wellfield Works, Dundee

Wellfield Works is a Grade B listed building founded by Henry Boase and George Ireland and built in 1866. It is a medium-scale former jute mill complex prominently sited at the corner of Kemback Street and Craigie Street, comprising a main spinning mill building, two engine houses, gateway entrance, lodge office, and associated structures.

The Main Spinning Mill

The principal building is a 3-storey, 13-bay iron frame former jute spinning mill. Its west gable end faces the corner of Kemback Street and Craigie Street. The building features central hoist doors at first and second floor level, flanked by oval openings and a single roundel (oculus) above. The east elevation also displays an oculus and a carved ball finial at the apex of the gable. The long south elevation has a continuous band course at the upper storey, while the ground floor contains 18-pane windows of the top hopper type. The roof is pitched and covered with grey slates. A single-storey former weaving and carding shed with a piended roof adjoins to the rear.

The Engine Houses

The tall original engine house of 1866 projects slightly forward of the mill and features an open pediment gable with a large 3-light window (now blocked) flanked by classical pilasters and a cast iron pediment lintel. A single window at second floor level is topped with a roundel. The later engine house, added in 1907, is situated to the east and has three tall round-headed windows with keystones and a piended roof. Its north elevation contains a round-arched entrance with a date shield and a large circular window flanked by narrow round-headed windows. The roof is slated.

The Gateway and Offices

The Kemback Street elevation features a segmental arch entrance inscribed "Wellfield Works" with a curved pediment dated 1866 and topped with a ball finial. The adjoining offices to the north are stepped in height. The 1866 lodge section has a corniced parapet with a central wallhead chimney stack. The 1911 boardroom addition, designed by Andrew Granger Heiton, is constructed of polished ashlar and features a large canted oriel window set within a segmental arch with pilasters and a corniced parapet topped with carved scroll consoles on either side. The offices throughout have timber sash and case windows.

Interior Details

The interior of the fireproof mill building, inspected in 2016, reveals the structure's industrial heritage. The ground and first floors contain two rows of cast iron columns carrying cast iron beams with brick-arched ceilings and wrought iron ties. A third row of thicker columns with flanged capitals carries lengthwise cast iron beams supporting the north wall of the 3-storey building. The former preparing room to the north is spanned by two wide-span timber roofs supported on a fourth row of cast iron columns. The first floor ceiling is pierced by cast iron boxes through which spinning machine belt drives passed to the attic space. The upper floor features a timber collar beam roof with wrought-iron ties meeting at ogee-shaped cast iron centres. Behind the 1866 arched entrance is a further timber collar beam roof. The first floor office interiors on Kemback Street retain cornices and include a timber panelled boardroom. Stairs with wrought-iron balusters serve the 1866 south section, while the north section (1913) features a tiled entrance and separate staircase.

Exclusions from Listing

The factory and offices at Morgan Street and stone warehouses to the north (heightened in brick) are excluded from this listing.