In 1797, during the French Revolutionary Wars, Admiral Adam Duncan (1731–1804) commanded the Royal Navy fleet that defeated the Dutch at the Battle of Camperdown.

[4] In 1820, his son Robert, 2nd Viscount Duncan, commissioned William Burn to design a new house in the Greek Revival style.

The parklands surrounding the house were laid out by Lord Camperdown, with the assistance of his forester David Taylor, who along with his son planted most of the estate's trees between 1805 and 1859.

[1] Camperdown Park has been the host venue for BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend twice, the first time in 2006,[5] and again in 2023.

[13] In 2007, the park was subjected to an attack by vandals who broke into the zoo and launched an assault on numerous different species.

As a result of the attack, a fallow deer was left with a large wound on its side, a terrapin's eyes had been gouged out and a snowy owl had become so distressed that it cannibalised its own offspring.

[citation needed] Camperdown Country Park had an eighteen-hole golf course which was 6,548 yards in length.

[15] Following a cost-saving exercise by Dundee City Council, the decision was made to close the course permanently.

The tree was discovered around 1835–1840 by Lord Camperdown's head forester, David Taylor, who noticed a mutant contorted wych elm branch sprawling along the ground.