What lies beneath — Whitehall Crescent roadworks unearth hidden part of Dundee's past
An unusual piece of Dundee's history has been unearthed in the city centre.
Professor Tony Cox of Tayside Historical Tours with one of the wooden cassies.
- By Stefan Morkis
- Published in the Courier : 29.09.11
- Published online : 01.10.11 @ 09.39am
Contractors carrying out resurfacing work in Whitehall Crescent and Whitehall Street have discovered 10,000 setts that were used instead of stone cobbles to pave the streets when they were built in 1883.
Although the setts have been tarred over, it appears they were made of two types of wood — pine and a harder wood, thought to be mahogany or teak, on top.
Each wooden ''cassie'' is just two inches by six inches.
The word ''cassie'' is thought to come from the term causeway, that was used to describe streets that had been properly paved, rather than just consisting of packed earth.
Professor Anthony Cox, who is the lead tour guide of Tayside Historical Tours, said several Dundee streets, including Bank Street and Victoria Street, also had wooden setts, but used them for different reasons — tourism and safety.
By the late 19th century, Dundee had become a popular stopping point for tourists who, inspired by Queen Victoria setting up a summer residence at Balmoral, were travelling to the Highlands and Royal Deeside.
He said: "There were different reasons for different streets being laid with setts. They were laid down Whitehall Street and Whitehall Crescent for the benefit of guests at the Mathers Temperance Hotel (Tay Hotel).
''There was a lot of commercial activity in the area in the mornings and even cattle being driven through the town so the wood made it quieter.''
Professor Cox added that other areas of Dundee used them because of the jute trade.
''Jute is incredible flammable and would sometimes spontaneously combust. When they were transporting it to the mills from the docks, metal wheel trims on the carts could cause sparks on stone cobbles so they used wooden ones.''
Professor Cox said the setts would have been laid as city fathers attempted to rejuvenate the area.
He said: ''The whole area was developed and they wiped away the old medieval part of Dundee because there was a lot of disease and overcrowding. There was a lot of cholera and typhus.
''The redevelopment was to bring more middle-class people back to the city centre. Before it was redeveloped that part of town was Fish Street, which was a red light district.''
Imported hardwoods like teak and mahogany would be more readily available because of expanding colonial interests in India and Burma.
''There was enormous pressure being put on the British to enter Burma and that would release a large amount of hardwood exports into Britain.
"The same wood was used in the interiors in Whitehall Crescent and around Dundee — it's probably the same wood that can be seen in Mennie's Bar. They literally paved the way for the introduction of a new city centre.''
Dundee City Council is keeping the 10,000 recovered setts in storage.
City archivist Iain Flett said: ''The folklore we have put our volunteers out to investigate is that they were used outside churches so that preachers wouldn't be disturbed.''
06.23pm - 02.10.2011 FS - Dundee, Scotland UK Report This
The 2nd last paragraph answers the question of anyone still unconvinced that Dundee has left the bad old days of dump and destroy behind. Well done, Dundee. Now, is there some way we can utilise them, or do they remain permanently in storage?
09.56am - 03.10.2011 Cassie Stone - Dundee, Scotland Report This
Was there not a theory that cassie came from the French word casse meaning broken i.e. individual stone sets as opposed to solid earth or tar? If they stopped sparks, why then did Union Street have long tracks of granite set into cassies? To resist the wear from cart wheels perhaps?
10.43am - 27.10.2011 William Cowan - Melville,W.Australia 6156, Australia Report This
I am a volunteer at Maritime Museum Fremantle,W. Australia.We have exhibits and stories of floor and street paving blocks sawn from Jarrah logs.Jarrah, a local Eucalypt,was shipped to London.
08.52pm - 28.11.2011 BRG - Solihull, UK Report This
Wooden Setts were not uncommon in Dundee, they were used for noise suppression at critical locations. In the late forties they still existed at various locations including Bell Street in the area of carriageway between the High School and the Institute of Art & Technology (now Abertay University).
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