| Dalgarven Mill |
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Dalgarven Mill is near Kilwinning , North Ayrshire , Scotland and home to the '''Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume.''' The Watermill has been completely restored over a number of years and is now run by the '''Dalgarven Mill Trust.''' The village of Dalgarven itself was largely destroyed by the construction of the main A737 road. The mill is now open as a tourist attraction, interpreting local history in addition to its role as a museum of Ayrshire country life. Very few mills remain in Ayrshire and this is an example which has survived due to the foresight of the family of the last miller who saw a modern role for an ancient architectural site and traditional social meeting-place. Some of the outbuildings have been converted for use as an antique shop, others are still occupied as dwellings and some are in the process of being converted to uses which will enhance the quality of the experience of visitors to the mill complex. The Chairman of the Mill Trust, Mr. R. Ferguson, is the son of the last miller. The mill is run by a Trust with volunteer enthusiasts making up the Board of Trustees. The mill is not part of the National Trust or the Museum Of Scotland . HISTORY OF THE DALGARVEN MILLS There has been a mill on this site of Groatholm since the 14th century, set up by the monks of Kilwinning Abbey . The first mill was a waulk or fulling mill producing woollen cloth. Retting was carried out here in ponds next to the river, this process being a stage in the manufacturing of vegetable fibres, especially the bast fibres. It involves submerging plant stems such as Flax , Jute or Hemp in water, and soaking them for a period of time to loosen the fibers from the other components of the stem. The fibres can then be used to produce linen and other products, such as paper for banknotes, rope, etc. The present mill was erected in 1614 as a corn mill and rebuilt in 1880 after being damaged by fire. The River Garnock 's waters power a 6-metre diameter breast-shot wheel that drives the French burr millstones through cast iron gearing. The traditional methods of producing flour can be traced. The wheel turns, when possible, following the almost total renewal of the mill machinery and a recent (2006) replacement of the wooden components of the wheel, sluice, etc. The mill race, leat or lade was critical to the efficient working of the mill and was a specialised craft, indeed a leatwright is recorded on a grave in the Loudoun Kirk graveyard near Galston , Ayrshire. The Weir on the River Garnock is made of boulders which are carefully placed and locked together to create a natural millpond to supply a good head of water to the wheel through the lade. The weir is built on a natural Dyke which runs across the Garnock at this point, its existence being carefully exploited by the monks of Kilwinning Abbey who chose the site for the mill. These dykes (bands of especially hard rock) are found at several points crossing the river and many were exploited as the basis for dams, such as also occurred at Cunninghamhead Mill on the River Annick. The course and position of most of these dykes is well known, as they were a major consideration in the successful exploitation of coal in the Ayrshire coalfield. A feature of many mills was the presence of trees or structures shading the wheel from the intense summer sun. The reason for this was that when the wheel was not turning the wood components dried out and warped, putting a great deal of stress on the whole structure, putting it out of shape and creating breaks in the buckets, etc. At Dalgarven the wheel was originally enclosed by high walls which served the same purpose as trees. The Dalgarven wheel is a low breastshot, where the water strikes the wheel at a quarter of its diameter or height of the wheel and it turns with an anti-clockwise rotation. On the outer edge of each bucket is a 'sacrificial board' which will break away if any object becomes wedged beneath it. This is very important, as the stresses and strains set up by the wheel suddenly stopping would cause considerable damage to the various cogs and to the drive to the grinding stones themselves, which have significant mass and momentum when employed in the process of grinding. The massive wooden hirst supporting the grindstones can be viewed from inside of the mill. In the 1940s, the miller at Dalgarven used the wheel to produce electricity which was stored in liquid acid batteries. At present (2006) the Mill Trustees are looking into the possibilities of using the wheel to produce electricity to help offset the mills contribution to global warming on the basis of 'Think Global, Act Local'. The mill building has an unusual structural feature, an alcove, designed to attract nesting owls which would then feed off and help to control the vermin which stores of cereals and other foodstuffs always attract. One feature of the mill is the relatively small number of windows. This may be purely practical, however avoidance of paying too high a ' Window Tax ' may have been a consideration. Window tax was first levied in England in 1696 to offset the expenses of making up the gold and silver deficiency in the re-coinage of William III reign caused by clipping and filing of coins. It was set at two shillings for small tenements, six shillings for buildings with up to ten windows and ten shillings for those with twenty windows. Cottages were exempt.Palermo, Raymond (2001). Coin News. July. Pps. 24 - 25. ISSN 0958-1391. It was based on the number of windows in a house and large mansions often had many existing windows blocked up, such as a whole side of Loudoun Castle, in Ayrshire, Scotland. It was repealed in 1851 and replaced by a tax on inhabited houses.Encyclopaedia Britannica (1953). Vol.23. Pub. London. Lying on the cobbles outside the original mill is a large oval sandstone object with metal attachments on its central axis. This was used to crush whin or Gorse in a shallow trough, the stone being dragged up and down by a horse, making the spiny and tough branches of the plant suitable for use as animal feed. It was however only used if other sources of feed were lacking. The mill's history is laid out in the Trust's publication - ''A Miller's Tale. The Life and Times of Dalgarven Mill'', written by Robert Ferguson, Chairman of the Dalgarven Mill Trust.Ferguson, Robert (2005). ''A Miller's Tale. The Life and Times of Dalgarven Mill.'' ISBN 0-9550935-0-3. THE MILLER'S TALE or Gorse for use as fodder for cattle.]] The miller was an important member of the rural community and honesty was an important and valued characteristic, for he had many opportunities to cheat the farmer; worst of all, he might knowingly accept blighted seeds which would result in Ergotism . When milled, the Ergot on the seeds is reduced to a red powder, obvious in lighter grasses but easy to miss in dark rye flour. In the Middle Ages gangrenous ergotism poisoning was known as "holy fire" or " St Anthony's Fire ". The blight, named from the cock's spur it forms on grasses, was identified and named by Denis Dodart who reported the relation between ergotized rye and bread poisoning. It has been suggested that many of the people whose accusations resulted in the 1692 Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts were genuinely suffering hallucinations and other symptoms of convulsive ergotism. Notable epidemics of Ergotism , at first seen as a punishment from God, occurred up into the 19th century. Fewer outbreaks have occurred since then, because in developed countries rye is carefully monitored. Whenever there is a combination of moist weather and cool temperatures which favour the growth of the fungus that causes the ergotism. It was not easy being a miller, for instance some people held the belief that it was wrong to use water artificially; that to turn water from its course was to act against God's plan. Willsher, Betty and Hunter, Doreen (1978). ''Stones, A Guide to Some Remarkable 18th. Century Gravestones.'' ISBN 0-903937-36-0. Ancient mills, it was believed, had been piously placed by their forefathers where they could be worked according to God's order, without artificially embanking the water or turning it from its natural course, which would be sinful. Gauldie, Enid (1981). The Scottish Miller 1700 - 1900. Pub. John Donald. ISBN 0-85976-067-7. The symbol of a miller, such as that seen on gravestones, was the ''rind'', the iron part that supports the upper millstone. One epitaph to a miller reads: A miller, from Campsie , Dunbartonshire has recorded: "THIRLAGE" AND THE MILLS OF AYRSHIRE Thirlage was the feudal law by which the laird {lord) could force all those farmers living on his lands to bring their grain to his mill to be ground. Additionally they had to carry out repairs on the mill, maintain the lade and weir as well as conveying new millstones to the site. The width of some of the first roads was determined by the requirements of at least two people on either side of a grindstone with a wooden axle called a 'mill-wand'.Gauldie, Enid (1981). The Scottish Miller 1700 - 1900. Pub. John Donald. ISBN 0-85976-067-7.Ferguson, Robert (2005). ''A Miller's Tale. The Life and Times of Dalgarven Mill.'' ISBN 0-9550935-0-3. The Thirlage Law was repealed in 1779Ferguson, Robert (2005). ''A Miller's Tale. The Life and Times of Dalgarven Mill.'' ISBN 0-9550935-0-3. and after this many mills fell out of use as competition and unsubsidised running costs took their toll. This may explain why so many mills went out of use, as deduced from comparing Armstrong's 1775 mapArmstrong and Son. Engraved by S. Pyle (1775). ''A New Map of Ayr Shire comprehending Kyle, Cunningham and Carrick.'' with the 1885 OS Map . For example, Lambroch Mill on the River Annick served Lambroughton and apart from the weir and some other indications, it has entirely vanished. Crevoch Mill on the Glazert , a Rivulet near Chapeltoun , also on the outskirts of Stewarton , was the site of a corn mill and associated miller's dwelling, byre, etc. as far back as 1678. This old cornmill was part of the Barony of Crevoch and lay in the portion which was called Crivoch-Lindsay. It was a substantial building, however it was also out of use and entirely ruinous by 1885. THE MUSEUM OF COUNTRY LIFE The three-storey grain store has been converted during the main restoration period of 1985 to 1987, to house an extensive collection of Ayrshire farming and domestic memorabilia, reflecting the self sufficiency of the pre-industrial rural community that was Dalgarven. Displays include the themes of Ploughing , Threshing , Harvesting and the village Smithy . An antique shop is housed in an old outbuilding, a cafe provides snacks and meals and the original mill on the River Garnock 's edge is being developed. Museum and mill Gallery |
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