History

This information has been curated with thanks to Morgan Academy Former Pupil Association.  

“The Morgan” is an imposing landmark building of tremendous architectural significance, designed in 1862 by the Edinburgh architects John Dick Peddie and Charles Kinnear. It opened in 1868 as the Morgan Hospital, a charitable institution providing accommodation and education for “sons of tradesmen and persons of the working class generally whose parents stand in the need of assistance”. 

Its benefactor was John Morgan, the son of a Dundee maltman, who emigrated to India at the age of 20 where, with his brother, he became a wealthy indigo farmer. After a lengthy retirement in Edinburgh, he died, aged 90, in 1850. His will was very confusing and was contested so it was not until 1861 that the House of Lords determined that Morgan’s wish had been to bequeath the bulk of his fortune (£73 500) to establish a residential institution in Dundee for the education of boys, similar in character to George Heriot’s in Edinburgh. 

The Governors were determined to have a monumental building. The setting chosen sits high above the city, commanding the northeast quarter of Dundee and its style is an impressive form of baronial architecture, derived from French chateaux and Flemish guild halls. It is one of Peddie and Kinnear’s finest buildings and it is of international significance, being only comparable in design to Edinburgh’s Fettes College, which was designed by David Bryce and also built in the 1860s. 

Original Architectural Drawings of the School 

The RCAHMS has kindly given us their permission to display these two images of the original architectural drawings of the school. Their news page has some information on the fire and the schools history. 

Crown Copyright: Royal Commission on the Ancient and 
Historical Monuments of Scotland, Dick Peddie and McKay Collection. 

The early design for the school was not impressive enough for the Governors, so the turreted central tower was heightened to some 120 feet and elaborate dormer window heads with carved pinnacles and gargoyles were added to the frontage. The building’s decorative details are exceptional, with traceried windows and a delightful variety of Gothic motifs, attenuated chimney stacks and slender lanterns. The roof was decorated with cast iron ridge cresting and ornate wrought iron finials to the many turrets and towers. 

The Hospital closed in 1888 because new legislation caused it to change into an educational grant awarding trust. The building was sold to the newly formed Dundee Burgh School Board for £15,000. It was converted into a day school for 650 pupils and reopened as Morgan Academy in 1889 with various alterations, including roofing over the courtyard as a hall. 

However, by the early 20th century, pressure for more suitable and additional accommodation resulted in extensive internal alterations to convert the small rooms from the institution into larger classrooms with wide corridors, new toilets and to build a large three story wing to the north.This north range was completed in 1915 and was designed by James Langlands, who was the School Board Architect. 

Much of the interior of the school dated from this period and so it would be fair to assess that the principal architectural interest in Morgan Academy was in the external form of the 1860’s building. 

The school’s architectural significance was officially recognised with category A listing when Dundee’s first survey of listed buildings was compiled by the Government in 1963; Dundee was one of the first lists and the Morgan was one of only nine A-listed buildings in the city (there are now about 80). The next major addition to the school was in 1991-92, when a large new extension by Tayside regional Council Architects Department was added to the rear of the north range. 

Article written by David McDougal and Adam Swan