UNICORN is a ‘Dundee Ship’
HMS Unicorn in Earl Grey Dock in 1935
Ships are essentially nomadic and rarely have ‘homes’; indeed their whole purpose is to travel. So when the time comes for a working ship to retire there may be no obvious final site for her.
Unicorn, on the other hand, is most unusual amongst big ships in having a ‘home’. She spent her entire working life in one port, Dundee, has now been here 136 years, and is now firmly embedded in Dundee’s social and maritime history.
Because Unicorn is a ship, and not in a prominent position, it is often forgotten just how much a part of Dundee’s heritage she has become. She easily predates most of the buildings in the city centre, and had already been in Dundee for 50 years when the Caird Hall was opened.
A proposed site for Unicorn within Dundee's central waterfront development
The concept of curtilage is becoming increasingly understood and valued by modern society, and a major advantage of the proposed preservation of Unicorn within Dundee’s Central Waterfront is that it allows Unicorn to reclaim the city centre position she occupied for her first century in the Tay, and also allows Dundee and its hinterland to maximize this extraordinary aspect of one of our potentially great assets.
The Governors are clear that their main priority is the Preservation of HMS Unicorn but they are particularly keen to support options which will allow her to remain in her own home in her old age.
