Giffen Mill, Dunlop Road, Barmill

Giffen Mill comprises a mid-18th century millhouse and an early 19th century former corn mill, situated on Dunlop Road in Barmill.

The millhouse is a two-storey, three-bay structure, set back from the road. It features a central door with a lugged architrave, a bolection-moulded frieze, and a cornice. Originally, there were three windows on the first floor, some of which may have been enlarged. The windows have painted margins and roll-moulded surrounds, and there's a moulded eaves course. The exterior is finished with painted cement harl. The rear elevation has three bays with enlarged openings, a single-storey, piend-roofed wing in the centre, and a lean-to in the re-entrant angle to the left. Modern UPVC glazing has been installed. The roof is covered with grey slates laid in diminishing courses, with a stone ridge and straight stone skews to the front elevation, and a sawtooth design with beaked skewputts to the rear. There are end stacks, and cast-iron rainwater goods.

The mill occupies a sloping site which projects forward from the millhouse. It is currently roofless and in a derelict state (as observed in 2003). The structure is a long, two-storey range with a basement at the gable and rear, and a range to the left which includes a forestair. The openings are irregularly spaced. A doocot is incorporated into the north gable, featuring a small painted relief owl sculpture below. Sawtooth skews are present. Some original machinery remains inside the mill.

The interior of the millhouse was not inspected in 2003, and it appears that no original features survive.

Originally, the mill was limewashed and had a slate roof. The owl sculpture on the north gable is reputedly from the ruins of Giffen Castle, formerly the stronghold of the Montgomeries of Giffen. It's believed that building materials from the castle were utilized in the construction of the mill and subsequently the millhouse in the mid-18th century. Historical documents and photographs indicate the mill’s appearance as it was intact. The site was noted on Ordnance Survey maps from 1858, and identified as a corn mill in 1897 and 1910.