St Mary's Tower, City Churches, Nethergate, Dundee

This is the late 15th-century St Mary’s Tower, part of the City Churches on Nethergate in Dundee. Construction was likely completed around 1495, and it stands 156 feet tall. The tower is five stages high, with the upper two stages set back to create a walkway at the fourth stage. A caphouse, likely built around 1570, sits atop the tower. The turnpike stair was heightened in 1643 by John Mylne, who added "two roundis" to its structure. Much of the detailing was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1872, though it was subsequently redressed in the early 1960s by Dundee Corporation. Modern small-pane leaded glass windows are located on the west side, while the third stages feature 19th-century cathedral-paned windows. The fourth and fifth stages are louvred and topped with a slate roof.

The west elevation features a round-arched, double doorway within a larger round-arched tympanum, adorned with acorn leaf mouldings. The tympanum originally housed a relief sculpture of the Virgin and Child. A trumeau and shafts are present but heavily worn. Above the doorway is a large six-light window with spiral mouchettes and Y-tracery, accompanied by a hoodmould, mask label stops, and a continuous impost level band course. The second stage has a round-arched window with geometric quatrefoil wheel tracery. A smaller two-light window is located on the third stage. The fourth and fifth belfry stages are recessed behind a quatrefoil parapet with pinnacles; one pinnacle contains a niche with a statue.

Roll-moulded angles are found at the fourth stage. Louvred pointed-arch openings with hoodmoulds and mask label stops are present – three at the fourth stage and two at the fifth. An iron clock face is situated at the fifth stage, and the parapet features quatrefoil piercings with remnants of the bases for a crown spire. A gabled caphouse tops the structure.

The south elevation is largely blank on the first and second stages. A small, mid-19th-century porch leads to St Clement’s, featuring a pointed-arch door and a castellated parapet. The third stage has a two-light pointed-arch window above a small, hoodmoulded niche containing a statue of the Virgin. The fourth and fifth stages mirror the west elevation’s design.

The north elevation is also blank through the first three stages. The fourth and fifth stages resemble the west elevation but were altered to a single light over two when the stair was heightened in 1643. A turnpike stair is positioned on the left, featuring slit windows. A conical stone spirelet and weathervane are situated above.

The interior comprises a tall, masonry rib-vaulted chamber. A circular hatch was used to transport materials to the upper stages. A splayed arch once led to the nave of the church, now blocked with rubble. A small pointed-arch door is found beyond a segmental relieving arch. Nook shafts with bell capitals and corbels at the impost level formerly supported a timber gallery. The upper stages feature timber construction, with a roof structure dating to the late 17th or early 18th century.