Hoolachan, Andrew

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11/05/2018 “Bring back the Royal Arch!” Dealing with the past in Scotland’s independence city. | AESOP Young Academics
https://aesopyoungacademics.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/bring-back-the-royal-arch-dealing-with-the-past-in-scotlands-independence-city/ 1/4
“Bring back the Royal Arch!” Dealing with the past in Scotland’s independence city.
Posted on October 5, 2015 by aesopyaadmin
Guest author: Andrew Hoolachan, Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge.
The city of Dundee is Scotland’s most pro-independence city. The Scottish National Party represents the city at all
tiers of governance and the city returned the highest percentage of voters in favour of independence in the 2014
referendum. Its dramatic £1bn waterfront regeneration programme in many ways symbolises a new spirit of
increasing confidence and international outlook. Despite this there have been calls from a local history group in
the city to bring back an iconic 19  century Victorian arch which was destroyed in a wave of modernist re-building
the in 1960s. The arch in many ways represents a time when Scotland was fully complicit in the exploitation of the
British Empire so seems at odds with the values of Scotland’s ‘Yes City’. This raises significance questions about
how a pro-independence city views its historical role during the British Empire.
On the 16  of March 1964 when decolonisation was in full swing, an iconic arch marking the entrance to the port
of Dundee was demolished. Known as the Royal Arch, it was built between 1849 and 1853 to commemorate 1844
visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to the city. After the boom and during the slow decline of industry, by
1964 Dundee was in the grip of a fever that had swept British towns and cities: comprehensive redevelopment in
the modernist style. The plans for the city centre were similar to many others in Britain in the 1960s; a ring-road
that encircled the city centre, cutting it off from the waterfront; underpasses and overpasses channelling
pedestrians; grey concrete towers housing municipal governments; complex historic streets turned into efficient
and rational shopping arcades. And so it was that as part of Dundee’s redevelopment of the 1960s, old Victorian
streets and buildings were swept away to be replaced by clean lines, and right-angles.
The demolition of the Royal Arch was part of this process of re-planning Dundee’s waterfront where its old docks
would be filled in and the city centre cut off from one of the most scenic waterfronts in Britain by a 4-lane ring
road. Yet today the city is undergoing another transformation, one which seeks to undo the damage of the 1960s.
£1 billion pounds of investment is being injected into the city to revitalise and reconnect its historic link to the
Firth of Tay, culminating in a “landmark” design museum, and an outpost of London’s Victoria and Albert
Museum designed by Japanese Architect, Kengo Kuma. It seems not all localities have given up on the “Bilbao
dream”.
Reworking past mistakes and setting a plan for the future always brings with it reflections on a city’s common
heritage. For many years, even prior to the most recent waterfront development, citizens have been divided on the
issue of the Royal Arch’s demolition. Some argue that it is in keeping with the crazed wave of demolition of the
1960s and the city council’s contempt for unique architecture or historical significance. Others have argued that it
was in any case an eye-sore and we should move forward. As part of the contemporary waterfront redevelopment,
calls have been made on social media for the historic arch to be restored, gaining local new coverage.
A great irony of the campaign for restoration of the arch is perhaps in what the arch represented at the time it was
constructed compared to the values the citizens hold today. Dundee has been described as Scotland’s most
nationalist city*. At all tiers of government from Westminster, to Holyrood (The Scottish Parliament) and in its
local government, the Scottish National Party are in control. Almost 60% of the population who voted in the 2014
independence referendum, voted in favour in independence, the highest in Scotland and the only city other than
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11/05/2018 “Bring back the Royal Arch!” Dealing with the past in Scotland’s independence city. | AESOP Young Academics
https://aesopyoungacademics.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/bring-back-the-royal-arch-dealing-with-the-past-in-scotlands-independence-city/ 2/4
Glasgow to vote Yes. Given the level nationalism in the city, how appropriate would it be to re-construct a building
that represents a British monarch who presided over a vast empire of which Scotland was fully complicit, and
thanks to which Dundee gained its identity as an industrial powerhouse?
At the time of Victoria’s visit to Dundee, the city was on the brink of a Jute manufacturing boom. Jute is a plant
which could be lubricated with whale oil and fabricated into a durable textile. It was grown in Bengal and shipped
to Dundee to be processed Jute was used in an innumerate ways from the sails of ships, to sacks for potatoes and
declined in use with the rise of plastics. Jute has become a by-word for Dundee’s industrial heritage, with
factories, tenements, villas, parks and public buildings resulting from its wealth. A direct connection to India was
made through this “Victoria” arch. It oversaw the economic exchange between the Dundee factory workers and
Indian labourers. Shortly after the arch was constructed, Indians were becoming agitated at British control in the
region and in 1857 after the Indian mutiny in which the British massacred hundreds of thousands, the formal
British Empire in India began. By 1877 Queen Victoria had declared herself “Empress of India”. Thus Dundee’s
wealth was built on the back of British foreign policy of imperialistic expansion and in particular the subjugation
and exploitation of India. Furthermore many of Dundee’s workers had come from Ireland, many who were
economic migrants following the land clearances and the British induced potato famine in the 1840s.
Does this arch then represent imperialism, monarchy, and capitalistic exploitation of workers and labourers to
such an extent, that it is fundamentally incompatible with contemporary narratives and the politics of Scottish
nationalism? The Scottish National Party, long a fringe and rather conservative force, became suddenly a left-
wing, anti-austerity, pro-EU party. Some SNP members but not all, are also anti-establishment and republican.
Thus, can these values of Scottish nationalism accommodate an urban memorial that is so heavily rested on
everything it currently opposes?
Of course not everyone in the city is pro-nationalist, and not all nationalists are left-wing. Indeed, 40% of the
population of Dundee voted No. Would they be more in favour of the construction of the arch as a symbol of
British unity to counteract the city’s slide into what they may see as a narrow short-sighted nationalism? I suspect
neither side has given much thought in respect to the arch. However, it seems timely and important that we must
consider such issues of memory, heritage and representation, before jumping onto Victorian nostalgia to bring
back a symbol of the past. After all, such projects cost money and at a time of austerity no doubt the public deserve
to understand why we would construct such an arch, beyond a shallow pastiche?
I suspect however the reasons for reviving the arch, may not be about its most obvious symbol of 19  century
imperialism. The people of Dundee remember what happened to their city in the 1960s. As a native of the city, it
was commonplace for people to bemoan the period when the city was traumatised by the rampant demolition of
its Victorian heritage by a corrupt, centralised and authoritarian local government. A narrative of victim-like
helplessness of bad decisions made by “the powers that be”, of the city bureaucrats, runs high in Dundee. It seems
that the population would do anything to reclaim past failures of urban planning just to get a small victory in a
long list of historical blunders by the city planners. An old dense street, the overgate, a mix of shops and
commercial premises which today’s planners would only dream of, was declared a slum neighbourhood and
destroyed and developed into an austere shopping mall. If left in-tact, it today could provide some tourist revenue
in the city on account of its charm. Similarly, the city was recently relieved at the demolishing of ‘Tayside House’
an oppressive tower built in the 1960s to accommodate local bureaucracy that was despised by many with its
depressive grey slabs and faceless windows. The list of 1960s planning and architectural atrocities on the city
could go on.
Thus as the city now undergoes a successful transformation based on recent best practice in contemporary urban
design, the mistakes of the 1960s demolition frenzy can now be once again considered. But before we jump to
rebuild this arch, we must ask ourselves if it is for the right reasons; a knee-jerk reaction against historic
mistakes? A vision of a city comfortable with its imperial past? Or an aesthetic longing to romanticise imperialism
th
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies from WordPress.com and selected partners.  
To find out more, as well as how to remove or block these, see here: Our Cookie Policy
11/05/2018 “Bring back the Royal Arch!” Dealing with the past in Scotland’s independence city. | AESOP Young Academics
https://aesopyoungacademics.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/bring-back-the-royal-arch-dealing-with-the-past-in-scotlands-independence-city/ 3/4
in an age of bland urban regeneration? Crucially Scotland and Dundee are at a turning point in how they see
themselves in relation to the rest of the world. A revived imperial arch as part of an urban regeneration strategy
raises questions about how Scotland pushes forward with its post-colonial identity, which many agree, is
increasingly at odds with older notions of ‘Britishness’.
*It should be noted that officially, Scottish nationalism is an anti-austerity, multi-ethnic, pluralistic, civic but
often populist nationalism. It is not an ethnic, or xenophobic nationalism.
Bio: Andrew Hoolachan is currently completing his PhD in the department of Architecture, Cambridge, where he
is looking at the politics of sustainable urban governance as part of the London Olympic Legacy programme. His
previous studies were in Geography at St Andrews and Urban Planning at UCL. He has worked as an Urban
Researcher at the University of Manchester and the University of St Andrews. He also spent time working for the
UK Civil Service in London.
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11/05/2018 “Bring back the Royal Arch!” Dealing with the past in Scotland’s independence city. | AESOP Young Academics
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Bring back the Arch! Dealing with the past in Scotland’s independence city

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11/05/2018 “Bring back the Royal Arch!” Dealing with the past in Scotland’s independence city. | AESOP Young Academicshttps://aesopyoungacademics.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/bring-back-the-royal-arch-dealing-with-the-past-in-scotlands-independence-city/ 1/4“Bring back the Royal Arch!” Dealing with the past in Scotland’s independence city.Posted on October 5, 2015 by aesopyaadminGuest author: Andrew Hoolachan, Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge.The city of Dundee is Scotland’s most pro-independence city. The Scottish National Party represents the city at alltiers of governance and the city returned the highest percentage of voters in favour of independence in the 2014referendum. Its dramatic £1bn waterfront regeneration programme in many ways symbolises a new spirit ofincreasing confidence and international outlook. Despite this there have been calls from a local history group inthe city to bring back an iconic 19  century Victorian arch which was destroyed in a wave of modernist re-buildingthe in 1960s. The arch in many ways represents a time when Scotland was fully complicit in the exploitation of theBritish Empire so seems at odds with the values of Scotland’s ‘Yes City’. This raises significance questions abouthow a pro-independence city views its historical role during the British Empire.On the 16  of March 1964 when decolonisation was in full swing, an iconic arch marking the entrance to the portof Dundee was demolished. Known as the Royal Arch, it was built between 1849 and 1853 to commemorate 1844visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to the city. After the boom and during the slow decline of industry, by1964 Dundee was in the grip of a fever that had swept British towns and cities: comprehensive redevelopment inthe modernist style. The plans for the city centre were similar to many others in Britain in the 1960s; a ring-roadthat encircled the city centre, cutting it off from the waterfront; underpasses and overpasses channellingpedestrians; grey concrete towers housing municipal governments; complex historic streets turned into efficientand rational shopping arcades. And so it was that as part of Dundee’s redevelopment of the 1960s, old Victorianstreets and buildings were swept away to be replaced by clean lines, and right-angles.The demolition of the Royal Arch was part of this process of re-planning Dundee’s waterfront where its old dockswould be filled in and the city centre cut off from one of the most scenic waterfronts in Britain by a 4-lane ringroad. Yet today the city is undergoing another transformation, one which seeks to undo the damage of the 1960s.£1 billion pounds of investment is being injected into the city to revitalise and reconnect its historic link to theFirth of Tay, culminating in a “landmark” design museum, and an outpost of London’s Victoria and AlbertMuseum designed by Japanese Architect, Kengo Kuma. It seems not all localities have given up on the “Bilbaodream”.Reworking past mistakes and setting a plan for the future always brings with it reflections on a city’s commonheritage. For many years, even prior to the most recent waterfront development, citizens have been divided on theissue of the Royal Arch’s demolition. Some argue that it is in keeping with the crazed wave of demolition of the1960s and the city council’s contempt for unique architecture or historical significance. Others have argued that itwas in any case an eye-sore and we should move forward. As part of the contemporary waterfront redevelopment,calls have been made on social media for the historic arch to be restored, gaining local new coverage.A great irony of the campaign for restoration of the arch is perhaps in what the arch represented at the time it wasconstructed compared to the values the citizens hold today. Dundee has been described as Scotland’s mostnationalist city*. At all tiers of government from Westminster, to Holyrood (The Scottish Parliament) and in itslocal government, the Scottish National Party are in control. Almost 60% of the population who voted in the 2014independence referendum, voted in favour in independence, the highest in Scotland and the only city other thanAESOP Young AcademicsThe blog of the Young Academics of theAssociation of the European Schools ofPlanningththPrivacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies from WordPress.com and selected partners.  To find out more, as well as how to remove or block these, see here: Our Cookie PolicyClose and accept11/05/2018 “Bring back the Royal Arch!” Dealing with the past in Scotland’s independence city. | AESOP Young Academicshttps://aesopyoungacademics.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/bring-back-the-royal-arch-dealing-with-the-past-in-scotlands-independence-city/ 2/4Glasgow to vote Yes. Given the level nationalism in the city, how appropriate would it be to re-construct a buildingthat represents a British monarch who presided over a vast empire of which Scotland was fully complicit, andthanks to which Dundee gained its identity as an industrial powerhouse?At the time of Victoria’s visit to Dundee, the city was on the brink of a Jute manufacturing boom. Jute is a plantwhich could be lubricated with whale oil and fabricated into a durable textile. It was grown in Bengal and shippedto Dundee to be processed Jute was used in an innumerate ways from the sails of ships, to sacks for potatoes anddeclined in use with the rise of plastics. Jute has become a by-word for Dundee’s industrial heritage, withfactories, tenements, villas, parks and public buildings resulting from its wealth. A direct connection to India wasmade through this “Victoria” arch. It oversaw the economic exchange between the Dundee factory workers andIndian labourers. Shortly after the arch was constructed, Indians were becoming agitated at British control in theregion and in 1857 after the Indian mutiny in which the British massacred hundreds of thousands, the formalBritish Empire in India began. By 1877 Queen Victoria had declared herself “Empress of India”. Thus Dundee’swealth was built on the back of British foreign policy of imperialistic expansion and in particular the subjugationand exploitation of India. Furthermore many of Dundee’s workers had come from Ireland, many who wereeconomic migrants following the land clearances and the British induced potato famine in the 1840s.Does this arch then represent imperialism, monarchy, and capitalistic exploitation of workers and labourers tosuch an extent, that it is fundamentally incompatible with contemporary narratives and the politics of Scottishnationalism? The Scottish National Party, long a fringe and rather conservative force, became suddenly a left-wing, anti-austerity, pro-EU party. Some SNP members but not all, are also anti-establishment and republican.Thus, can these values of Scottish nationalism accommodate an urban memorial that is so heavily rested oneverything it currently opposes?Of course not everyone in the city is pro-nationalist, and not all nationalists are left-wing. Indeed, 40% of thepopulation of Dundee voted No. Would they be more in favour of the construction of the arch as a symbol ofBritish unity to counteract the city’s slide into what they may see as a narrow short-sighted nationalism? I suspectneither side has given much thought in respect to the arch. However, it seems timely and important that we mustconsider such issues of memory, heritage and representation, before jumping onto Victorian nostalgia to bringback a symbol of the past. After all, such projects cost money and at a time of austerity no doubt the public deserveto understand why we would construct such an arch, beyond a shallow pastiche?I suspect however the reasons for reviving the arch, may not be about its most obvious symbol of 19  centuryimperialism. The people of Dundee remember what happened to their city in the 1960s. As a native of the city, itwas commonplace for people to bemoan the period when the city was traumatised by the rampant demolition ofits Victorian heritage by a corrupt, centralised and authoritarian local government. A narrative of victim-likehelplessness of bad decisions made by “the powers that be”, of the city bureaucrats, runs high in Dundee. It seemsthat the population would do anything to reclaim past failures of urban planning just to get a small victory in along list of historical blunders by the city planners. An old dense street, the overgate, a mix of shops andcommercial premises which today’s planners would only dream of, was declared a slum neighbourhood anddestroyed and developed into an austere shopping mall. If left in-tact, it today could provide some tourist revenuein the city on account of its charm. Similarly, the city was recently relieved at the demolishing of ‘Tayside House’an oppressive tower built in the 1960s to accommodate local bureaucracy that was despised by many with itsdepressive grey slabs and faceless windows. The list of 1960s planning and architectural atrocities on the citycould go on.Thus as the city now undergoes a successful transformation based on recent best practice in contemporary urbandesign, the mistakes of the 1960s demolition frenzy can now be once again considered. But before we jump torebuild this arch, we must ask ourselves if it is for the right reasons; a knee-jerk reaction against historicmistakes? A vision of a city comfortable with its imperial past? Or an aesthetic longing to romanticise imperialismthPrivacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies from WordPress.com and selected partners.  To find out more, as well as how to remove or block these, see here: Our Cookie Policy11/05/2018 “Bring back the Royal Arch!” Dealing with the past in Scotland’s independence city. | AESOP Young Academicshttps://aesopyoungacademics.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/bring-back-the-royal-arch-dealing-with-the-past-in-scotlands-independence-city/ 3/4in an age of bland urban regeneration? Crucially Scotland and Dundee are at a turning point in how they seethemselves in relation to the rest of the world. A revived imperial arch as part of an urban regeneration strategyraises questions about how Scotland pushes forward with its post-colonial identity, which many agree, isincreasingly at odds with older notions of ‘Britishness’.*It should be noted that officially, Scottish nationalism is an anti-austerity, multi-ethnic, pluralistic, civic butoften populist nationalism. It is not an ethnic, or xenophobic nationalism.Bio: Andrew Hoolachan is currently completing his PhD in the department of Architecture, Cambridge, where heis looking at the politics of sustainable urban governance as part of the London Olympic Legacy programme. Hisprevious studies were in Geography at St Andrews and Urban Planning at UCL. He has worked as an UrbanResearcher at the University of Manchester and the University of St Andrews. He also spent time working for theUK Civil Service in London.Share this:Twitter Facebook 15 Google EmailThis entry was posted in Heritage and Planning, Planning, city, and society and tagged heritage, planning, revitalisation, Scotland, UK, urban development, urban regeneration.Bookmark the permalink.3 Responses to “Bring back the Royal Arch!” Dealing with the past in Scotland’sindependence city.Pingback: “Bring back the Royal Arch!” Dealing with the past in Scotland’s independence city. | Eve's EverydayPingback: “Bring back the Royal Arch!” Dealing with the past in Scotland’s independence city. | Centre for Urban Conflicts ResearchPingback: Highlights from 2015 | AESOP Young AcademicsAdvertisementsGlasgow: If You Were BornBetween 1953 & 1979 AndHave No Life Insurance YouMust Read ThisReport this ad Report this ad    LikeOne blogger likes this.Related#Spacematters - List of planning-relatedblogs v. 1.0Portrait of a Historical NeighbourhoodThrough the Lenses of State-ledGentrification: Tarlabasi, IstanbulOpen Defecation: A Coda of Geospatialdifferentiation by British India?In "Beyond planning" In "Academia, research quality andassessment"Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies from WordPress.com and selected partners.  To find out more, as well as how to remove or block these, see here: Our Cookie Policy11/05/2018 “Bring back the Royal Arch!” Dealing with the past in Scotland’s independence city. | AESOP Young Academicshttps://aesopyoungacademics.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/bring-back-the-royal-arch-dealing-with-the-past-in-scotlands-independence-city/ 4/4AESOP Young AcademicsCreate a free website or blog at WordPress.com.Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies from WordPress.com and selected partners.  To find out more, as well as how to remove or block these, see here: Our Cookie Policy

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Bring back the Arch! Dealing with the past in Scotland’s independence city

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