Dundee Law

Nearest town:
Dundee (2km ESE)
OS reference:
NO391313
OS sheet:
54
Latitude:
56° 28' 11.45 N
Longitude:
2° 59' 18.98 W
Added to TMA by

Sites within Dundee Law

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Images

Image of Dundee Law (Hillfort) by thesweetcheat

Landscape context for the prominent hill from Newport-on-Tay, across the Firth of Tay. The next day Storm Babet closed the Tay bridges and battered eastern Scotland.

Image credit: A. Brookes (18.10.2023)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Dec 29, 2024
Image of Dundee Law (Hillfort) by drewbhoy

Taken from near Dron Hill. Dundee Law is in the middle, Balgay Hill to the right.

Image credit: drew/A/L/B
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jan 5, 2018
Image of Dundee Law (Hillfort) by drewbhoy

From the Waterfront at Dundee with the Discovery in the foreground.

Image credit: E. Lange 1999
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Dec 31, 2015
Image of Dundee Law (Hillfort) by drewbhoy

Tannadice and Dens Park can be seen, many a celebration has been had there :-) Looking northwards.

Image credit: drew/ALC
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jul 9, 2015
Image of Dundee Law (Hillfort) by drewbhoy

Looking over the Tay Bridge to the soon to be conquered Kingdom of Fife (or an extension to Drewland)

Image credit: drew/ALC
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jul 9, 2015

Articles

Dundee Law

thelonious
thelonious Feb 2, 2018

28/01/2018 – Heading back from Edinburgh to Aberdeen on the train we decided to stop off at Dundee for a walk. We didn’t pick the best of weather days for it. Got off the train just after nine and 10 minutes later the rain started and didn’t really let up for the rest of the walk.

Very quiet Sunday morning streets as we headed first to Balgay Hill. Nice hill with an observatory on top. Don’t think there is anything old here but it look a good place for a bit of megalithic.

Heading east we moved on to Dundee Law. Easy to get a little lost in the streets between the two but nothing too bad. A short climb first through allotments and then steps got us to the top. I guess the views from here are great on a sunny day but today the low cloud and rain put paid to that.

Hard to see if we were looking at any bits of the original fort as we walked around the top. Impressive war memorial and trig there as well.

We headed south back down through the streets to the train station. Overall a nice quiet walk to visit Dundee Law hillfort. Worth going on a clear day just for the views.

Dundee Law

drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jul 9, 2015

Easy to find and a nice tarred road all the way to the top. Last time I was here it was covered in cyclists and spectators for the start of the Tour Of Britain. Today it was much quieter and a nice way to get some fresh air after a hectic day. It is the home to Dundee’s war memorial, various masts and a viewing point.

Not much remains, if anything, of the fort now except the view which is stunning. Fife, soon to be renamed, is to the south, heading west is the Tay valley, north is Angus/Aberdeenshire and to the east is the North Sea. Fantastic place to go hillfort/cairn spotting.

Visited 4/7/2015.

Folklore

Dundee Law
Hillfort
BigSweetie
BigSweetie Jul 29, 2004

The Gaelic form of Dundee is Dùn Dèagh – ‘the fort of Daig’. Daig was a fairly uncommon Irish name meaning fire. However, Conall Corc, the legendary King of Munster, was exiled in Scotland in the 5th century, and one of his sons was named Daig.

Miscellaneous

Dundee Law
Hillfort
drewbhoy
drewbhoy Aug 24, 2015

the Law was the site of a vitrified hillfort probably occupied during the Bronze Age. Remains of a settlement were found where the road was built to the top of The Law in the 1920s. Over the centuries it has been occupied by the Picts and Scots.

Old Dundee (postcards of Dundee) by Andrew Cronshaw.

Miscellaneous

Dundee Law
Hillfort
Rhiannon
Rhiannon Sep 1, 2007

There is a hill rising to a great height on the north of the town, called Dundee Law, and sometimes the Bonnet Hill, from the long street or straggling village that stretches a great way up its side, being inhabited, formerly, chiefly by the makers of men’s bonnets, such as we see in London, worn by the Highland soldiers. This manufacture, from the general introduction of hats, in imitation of the English, is now greatly on the decline.

p272 of ‘Travels in Scotland, by an unusual route (vol 1)’ by William Thomson (1807).

Miscellaneous

Dundee Law
Hillfort
BigSweetie
BigSweetie Sep 4, 2004

Directions – it’s fairly impossible to miss the Law from anywhere in Dundee, and generally speaking, if you head directly towards it you’ll find your way up it relatively easily.

And more detailed directions – the easiest way to approach the Law is on the A923 (Coupar Angus road) in Lochee, from where it is sign-posted with brown heritage signs. Assuming that you’re coming from the centre of Dundee, head out on the A923 towards Lochee, and just after you pass the steep turn-off onto Ancrum Road to your left, you’ll spot a “Dundee Law” sign pointing right up Loon’s Road at the traffic lights. Take this road, and when it curves round to the left, turn right onto Byron Street, and then right again up Lawton Road (still following the signposts). At the top of Lawton Road, turn left onto Law Crescent and then after a short distance right up Law Road, which will take you to the summit of the Law. There are loads of paths criss-crossing the Law which will take you to the top, and several places to park the car if you’d prefer to walk the last bit, but there’s also space to park at the very top too.

Sites within 20km of Dundee Law

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