Dundee University podcast – Dundee Law

In the latest podcast to mark the 50th anniversary of Dundee University, historian Eddie Small looks at Dundee Law.

As you cross the Tay Bridge into the city, your eye is immediately drawn to Dundee Law, the plug of an extinct volcano which provides Dundee with its distinctive skyline.

Looming 174 metres over the city, the Law has witnessed history unfolding on and around it for at least 3,500 years, when there is evidence of the first human settlers.  

In the Iron Age, it was home to an ancient hill fort, giving the city the first part of its name – ‘Dun’ actually means hill fort.

Recently, researchers from the University of Dundee have carried out the first dynamic 3D reconstruction and visualisation of this hill fort, showing it in its surrounding landscape and incorporating items from the city’s museum collections.  

The purpose of the hill fort is uncertain, but it may have been a tribal centre, a religious gathering place or an area to keep people and livestock safe in case of invasion.  
A war memorial to those who lost their lives in the first world war was erected at the summit in 1925.This is lit with a large flame at its top on a number of significant days each year, including Remembrance Sunday.
If you climb up to the summit, like those students did to celebrate the creation of the University of Dundee, 50 years ago, you’ll be rewarded with stunning 360 degree views across the entire city, the Tay estuary and far beyond to the hills of Fife and the Sidlaws.   

It will become evident why this volcanic plug as drawn humans to it for several millennia and continues to do so.