Ettrick Mill, Dunsdale Road, Selkirk

Ettrick Mill, Dunsdale Road, Selkirk

A large woollen spinning and tweed manufacturing complex founded between 1835 and 1836, Ettrick Mill comprises eight principal structures: a tall mule-spinning mill, wheelhouse, chimney stalk, engine and boiler house, weaving mill with tower, dyehouse, sheds, and bridge.

The Main Mill (A) was constructed in 1836 and enlarged to the northeast in 1850. It is a large symmetrical woollen spinning mill of four storeys with basement and double attic, arranged in 27 bays with a central pedimented gable and three-by-three-bay projecting gabled wings. The exterior is coursed and squared rubble with ashlar dressings, quoins, string and blocking courses.

The front elevation, set back from the street, is a four-storey 21-bay main range. The centre bay features a tripartite composition with a ground floor door sheltered by an ornate wrought-iron lamp. The attic is a three-bay pediment with a centre Venetian window and flanking lights inscribed "MDCCCXXXVI JB ETTRICK MILL HB MDCCCL". A clock sits in an oculus over the Venetian window, though the bellcote is now missing. The wings rise to five storeys in their three-bay gabled sections, with attic oculi and gable end stacks, and eight-bay side elevations. The rear elevation, built in random rubble, displays a regular 27-bay arrangement with slight gaps separating the three end bays. A small saw-toothed addition to the southwest is of lesser architectural interest. Square basement windows to the northeast belong to the 1850 range. The roofs are slated with double tiers of skylights, and windows are four-pane top hoppers. The skews and stacks define the original ten-bay mill.

The interior of the 1836 mill is timber-floored on transverse timber beams and three rows of slim cast-iron columns connected on lower floors by saddles and brackets for line shafting down the centre row. The double attic features a collar-beam roof. The 1850 mill and northeast wing are similar but with thicker columns socketed vertically and without brackets; these have a single attic with open collar-beams. The southeast wing, probably dating to 1850, has fireproof brick arches on cast-iron beams and a single row of cast-iron columns. The ground floor was reinforced in steel circa 1950.

The Wheelhouse (B), perpendicular to and almost adjoining the centre of the rear elevation of the mill, dates to 1836 and was lengthened in 1850 and altered in 1919. It is single-storey with six-bay elevations on centre and gable skewputts. The southeast elevation is rendered except for ashlar details, and grilles protect the water intake. The northeast gable was reconstructed in 1919, probably coinciding with the installation of electric generators. A slate roof with very large skylights and louvred gablets covers the structure.

The Chimney Stalk (C), dating to 1858–65, rises approximately 150 feet as an octagonal brick stalk on an ashlar base, linked to the boiler house. The top oversailer is missing.

The Boiler and Engine House (D), also constructed 1858–65 and extended to the northeast in 1895, was largely reconstructed probably in 1919. It is rubble-built with ashlar dressings. A central gabled engine house features three arched lights, skewputts, an oculus, and a ball finial. Three bays to the right have round-headed lights. A large semi-circular window sits over a long opening with a steel lintel. A projecting bay to the north contains a cast-iron roof tank inscribed "Melrose and Sons Engineers and Ironfounders Hawick". The boiler house to the south was rebuilt circa 1919 in harled brick but retains original ashlar round-headed window dressings. The northwest elevation is timber boarded. Slate roofs with louvred ventilators cover the structure, and fine arched braced timber roof trusses are visible internally.

The Weaving Mill (E), situated southwest of the stalk, was designed by Thomas Aimers of Galashiels and built in 1874. It is two-storey, measuring eleven by four bays, built in rubble with ashlar dressings, string and blocking courses. A two-storey square-section stair tower and water tower with tall round-headed windows and a pyramidal roof with bracketed eaves rises prominently. The southwest gable is rendered brick, designed to accommodate an unbuilt extension. The slate M-roof has skylights. Windows are sash and case with eight-pane glazing patterns. The interior has a central row of cast-iron columns on the first floor, with arched-braced king-post roofs.

The Dyeworks (F), located southwest of the mill, dates to 1850 and was altered and enlarged circa 1900. It is single-storey, four-bay, built in rubble with ashlar dressings. Originally planned as a U-shape with piended roofs, the second bay from the right was altered and advanced to a gable with a large round-headed opening and small window above. A piend-roofed bay was added at the left, windows were altered, and further additions were made to the rear. Slate roofs with skylights and circa 1900 ventilators cover the structure.

The Sheds (G), dating to circa 1880–90 (excluding a large modern extension), occupy the northeast of the main mill. Two blocks of north-lit sheds, later united by a sheet-metal-clad shed, stand with high parapet walls and round-arched windows and doors to the southernmost eight-bay block, possibly used for wool scouring given its louvred ventilator. The north block, possibly a weaving shed, is blind with twelve bays, of which eight are set back behind later lean-to additions. A small building in the re-entrant angle may be an engine house. Slate roofs with northeast-facing skylights complete the sheds.

The Bridge (H), north of the northeast corner of the main mill and dating to 1850, is a small arched rubble-built structure spanning the tail-race from the wheelhouse, now dry. Its parapet has been damaged and the bridge widened.