Insanitary Ware

The selection of images from the collections of Dundee City Archives come from two official sources. The first three volumes were created in the 1920s by the Chief Sanitary Inspector, and the fourth was commissioned by the City Engineer.

The first three volumes deal with houses which were regarded as insanitary, because they were in bad repair, had insufficient water or sewerage services, or were overcrowded. The photographs provide a raw insight into the lives of the poor and disadvantaged at the beginning of the twentieth century, and form a stark contrast to the views of everyday work and business life depicted in the Dundee Photographic Survey. Ideally, they should be studied in conjunction with the surviving clearance registers and the complete series of printed annual reports produced by the Chief Sanitary Inspector. Although they now appear to give a depressing picture of people living in squalid conditions, they also provide a rich source of information about housing and development. Insanitary housing in the Overgate and Hilltown areas of Dundee in the 1920s had been erected at least a hundred years earlier. Where cottage dwellings had gradually been surrounded by later 19th century four- storey tenements, the images provide a rare opportunity to visualise Dundee before and during the industrial expansion of the mid to late nineteenth century.

The fourth volume, created by the City Engineer, is ostensibly about the clearance and development of the site for the Caird Hall. Work started on the site in 1914, but was delayed by the First World War, and the Hall was eventually opened in 1923. The first site clearance views give an insight into what was the heart of the historic burgh. As with the Chief Sanitary Inspector's series, the first impression is of dinginess and overcrowding, but some of the buildings which were totally destroyed by the Caird Hall development may have been survivors of the Cromwellian invasion of 1651. It is ironic that the same views which record the new techniques of concrete frame construction form one of the few sources of information on methods used in constructing the buildings of the historical burgh. The City Engineer's volume was created in conjunction with the Local Act of Parliament necessary for development at that time, with his various proposals for the Caird Hall and reports on the development of the City. All these sources are available for consultation in the City Archives.

Click here to see sample photographs (12 images)

PLEASE NOTE: Text and images are the Copyright © of Dundee City Council 1999.