How would Lochee look without Cox’s Stack? The 282-foot chimney was almost wiped off the map 40 years ago. Cox’s Stack was built in 1866 and reputedly contained a million bricks. The red and white brick chimney was the landmark for Camperdown Works in Lochee.
For 130 years the Camperdown complex, at one time sprawling over more than 25 acres, was the industrial giant of the suburb. The closure in 1981 marked the end of an era for Dundee’s jute empire. Barratt Homes agreed to buy Camperdown Works from Sidlaw Industries in 1982 for a £10 million housing development with 1,000 houses.
Dundee District Council chief planning officer Alistair Barrie confirmed it was the intention of the developers to demolish Cox’s Stack. He stressed that many stages had to be passed before that happened. Mr Barrie said he believed the reasons for wishing to demolish the B-listed stack included a concern to prevent any danger to buildings around it.
“It might deteriorate in time,” he said. “There would then be the possibility of bits falling off.” The People’s Journal suggested “momentous days could lie just around the corner”.
“The important thing with such a major site in is that the council get it right,” it said. “It’s far too important an area to develop in a haphazard fashion. “Include in ‘correct decision making’ the future of that giant mill chimney, Lochee’s best-known landmark – Cox’s Stack.
“How would Lochee-ites of today, never mind the old-t.