City Churches, Dundee - Ref: WC1412
In this photograph the Tower of St Mary's, popularly known as the Old Steeple, can be seen. Dating back to the 1480s the steeple has had a long and turbulent history. It has served as a watch-tower, a stronghold, and a prison as well as being a belfry and clock tower.
More recently the steeple survived the fire of 1841 which destroyed the adjacent City Churches. They have since been rebuilt. In the 1870s Sir George Gibert Scott was commissioned to restore the steeple. It was again refurbished in the late 1990s and has recently been reopened to the public.
Alexander Wilson who took this photograph, was a supervisor in a Dundee jute mill for over 20 years. He bequeathed much of his collection and £50, to cover the costs involved, to the Free Library Committee of Dundee in 1923.