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St. Mary’s Lochee

Proposal code: CONSUL-2023-10-95

All Under One Roof Phase 1

The Physical Environmental Improvement Fund will be used for carrying out ‘urgent ’and ‘essential ’repair works to the exterior of St. MaryMary’s, a remarkable, highly ornamented mid 19th century Church. It was built in a revived Gothic style by the prominent architect, Joseph Hansom, in 1866, to serve the growing, poor, working class Catholic community of Lochee. Its high architectural design qua lity was acknowledged by its early ( Grade A listing. Located in the ‘Lochee Conservation Area St. MaryMary’s is a well used communal space and a major asset to the inner city of Dundee. Commonly described as a 'Cathedral in miniature', it was the fir st church building in Scotland that used terracotta as the stonework for the interior. The church possesses a unique historic feature: a twelve metre deep hand carved well, situated near the sacristy.  The need for this project was noticed years ago but b ecame most apparent upon the Condition Survey in 2022, where the age of the church ( years), severe weather and lack of regular maintenance were identified as the causes of all issues, many of which are easily visible from the ground: Roof: water ingre ss through the roof, caused by slipped/missing/aged/broken slates, is causing damp and rot, and is continuing to ruin the churchchurch’s fabric and contents, even threatening the remarkable roof structure. Rainwater goods: lead flashings are loose, in poor cond ition, cracked in places due to poor detailing; gutters are cracked, broken and rusted; downfall pipes are dislodged, cracked and leaking.  Battered walls: distinctive of HansomHansom’s thoughtful and creative design, the walls reflected his interest in the struc tural principles of Gothic architecture, but unfortunately have been battered by severe weather over many decades which means that water ingress/dampness is now a permanent feature on the interior of the solid walls. The buttresses: include unusual vertic al iron bars. The damp in the walls affects the iron which is rusting, expanding, opening up joints and creating significant structural instability. This funding will be used to enable our professional Architect Team to: execute repairs to the roof and r eplace rainwater goods to stop massive water ingress repair the external walls and buttresses to address the critical issues with cracked, missing and weathered stones. demolish existing garage to create a community green space. During the project, our Parish Restoration Team ( in partnership with The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings Scotland ( University of Dundee, Abertay University and Dundee Local History Group will: offer Heritage Learning Programmes,Programmes,‘ Forgotten Skills in Historic Buildings ’and ‘How to Care for your Church ’workshops. organise Heritage/cultural events/activities as follows: 1 create a diary of church repairs for archiving. 2 develop accessible guided tours with local experts to explore churchchurch’s life befor e and after construction, its features, building materials, artefacts, past and present key individuals, also reflect on LocheeLochee’s past and present communities. 3 add St. MaryMary’s to the Heritage/Tourist Trails and offer guided tours of the Church 4 host ‘Do ors Open Days ’Festivals and also CBA ‘Festival of ArchaeologyArchaeology’

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