Fig. 1047.—Dundee Church Tower. View from North-West.
of the choir of the Parish Church of Dundee.[75] The only portion of the ancient parish church which now remains is the western tower (Fig. [1047]). Although this structure had no immediate connection with the choir, it has evidently, as its style shows, been erected about the middle of the fifteenth century, probably about the time when the choir was built by the Provost and Burgesses in terms of the above agreement.
Three parish churches in connection with the tower were gradually developed from the original chapel. They comprised a large cruciform
Fig. 1048.—Dundee Church Tower. Plan.
structure, the various portions of which were called St. Mary’s, or the East Church; St. Paul’s, or the South Church; and St. Clement’s, or the West Church. The structure was greatly damaged by the English before the Union, and St. Clement’s had suffered so much that it required to be rebuilt in 1789. The three churches were almost totally destroyed by fire in 1841, and in consequence the choir and transepts were thereafter rebuilt, St. Mary’s still occupying the choir, St. Paul’s the transept, and St. Clement’s the nave.
The ancient tower has escaped these various destructions and restorations, and is now the only representative of the church erected in the fifteenth century. It is a large and massive structure, measuring about 40 feet square over the walls (Fig. [1048]), which are about 8 feet thick. Its total height is about 165 feet. The tower forms a prominent object in all views of the town. It contains in the lower stage the western
