Ardler

Coordinates: 56°29′16″N 3°00′54″W / 56.487644°N 3.014905°W / 56.487644; -3.014905

Ardler is an area in the north-west of Dundee, Scotland, built on land previously owned by Downfield Golf Club. The housing scheme was completed in the late 1960s and was synonymous with the six 17-storey multi-storey blocks that formed the northern part of the scheme, and which were demolished between 1993 and 2007. This was the most dramatic part of a major programme of regeneration due to finish in 2011. However, while the multis were the most obvious part of Ardler both in their lifetime and their demolition, one former resident and participant in a local historical research programme stated that people should know that “there’s more to Ardler than the multis”.

History

Before the housing scheme

The origins of the name ‘Ardler’ are unclear, and certainly not to be confused with the village named Ardler in Perth and Kinross (near Coupar Angus and 15 miles north-west of Dundee). The name can be found on maps in the 18th century as ‘Airdlaw’, which could mean that it was the settlement of the Aird family. On the other hand, ‘aird’ or ‘erd’ is Scots for earth, so could simply relate to the fact that where the housing scheme is now was once farmland. Ardler Cottages, Ardler ponds (feeding into the Gelly burn, which now runs underground through the middle of Ardler) and three fields once stood on the current site of Downfield Golf Course just to the west of the scheme. These cottages were part of the Camperdown Estate until the land was bought by Dundee City Council.