Old Corn Mill, Lintrathen

This is an early 18th century, L-plan former corn mill, situated within the small hamlet of Bridgend of Lintrathen, north of Clint Law Hill and east of Loch of Lintrathen. The site is on steeply sloping ground. A keystone on the sluice by the waterwheel is dated 1706, and a pedimented entrance doorway on the west elevation bears a date of 1860.

The west (principal) elevation is single-storey and symmetrical, with a raised central gabled stone entrance doorway and a piended slate roof, all set below road level. The rear (east) elevation is taller, dropping down three storeys and a semi-basement to the lower ground level. The mill is constructed of rubble with various sandstone dressings, covered by a slate roof with cast-iron rainwater goods. A rubble chimney is located on the south gable. The timber windows have diverse glazing patterns.

The interior retains the main elements of the mill machinery within the living space. An iron and timber water wheel remains in situ within a separate wheelhouse room accessed externally via a door on the north gable. Many interior walls are rough plastered onto stone, and later 20th century partitions have been added to create living accommodation.

According to a 2016 article in the Courier newspaper, the keystone on the waterwheel sluice is dated 1706. Roy's Map of 1747 identified a group of buildings on the site, named ‘Kirk of Lintrathen’, including an L-plan building in the mill's present location. The Statistical Account of Scotland in 1845 described Lintrathen Parish, noting that village houses were ruinous and likely to be rebuilt. A date stone of 1860 suggests the mill was rebuilt around that time.

The mill's current L-plan footprint is shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1861, identified as the corn mill. The Ordnance Survey Name Book of the same year described the buildings at Bridgend of Lintrathen as including a farmhouse and offices, a public house, a smithy, a corn mill, a small grocer's shop, and three dwelling houses, along with a church, manse, two schools, a farm steading, several cottages, and around eight dwellings. The village was truncated in the later 19th century by the construction of a reservoir to the west.

The mill is thought to have been in operation until the earlier 20th century. It was unused for several decades before planning permission was granted in 1987 to convert it into two dwellings – a small upper-floor cottage and a separate house in the lower two floors. These were combined in 2002 to create the present house.