Mill Of Glenbuchat, Glen Buchat

Mill Of Glenbuchat, Glen Buchat

This is a compact meal mill dating from the 18th century with an addition of 1829. It sits on steeply falling ground to the west, forming a small group with a barn and 19th-century house. The mill is a single-storey structure with an attic, arranged on a rectangular plan with three bays. Its most significant feature is an early example of a small rectangular-plan kiln attached to the east side on higher ground. Remains of a metal wheel dating from circa 1900 are visible at the west gable.

The mill is constructed from random and coursed, snecked rubble with an ashlar wheel gable at the west end. The south (entrance) elevation has been altered and features a broad vehicular entrance to the right of centre, with a small square window at the centre and further square openings on each floor to the left. The kiln bay, slightly taller, occupies the outer right with a small opening at ground level to its left and the remains of a timber vent at the roof ridge. The east (road) elevation is a single-storey, steeply-gabled face with a timber door at centre.

The interior retains some timber mill workings including hardwood gears. The kiln is clay-lined. The original kiln funnel is wooden, lined with clay, and worked with a 6-spoke wood and iron start and awe wheel, 28 inches wide by 12 feet in diameter, which drove a single pair of stones.

The attached barn is a small, rectangular-plan, gabled threshing barn built from rubble with a corrugated roof, also on ground falling sharply to the west. Its east gable has a broad boarded timber door, a ball-finial, and an ashlar-coped skew. A further door opens from the south elevation, while the west elevation has been rebuilt.

The 19th-century house is a simple three-bay structure with a steeply-pitched roof, a catslide outshot to the east (rear), and a later bay to the south. The west elevation features a part-glazed timber door with flanking windows and three modern cast-iron rooflights. The interior retains original box beds and fire surrounds.

The mill group remains part of the North Glenbuchat Estate. It represents a rare example of an integral kiln attached to a small upland meal mill. The kiln was an important innovation of the late 18th century, allowing oats to be carefully dried before grinding—a distinguishing feature of upland mills that processed oats rather than lowland mills that ground wheat. The mill was worked by both the father and grandfather of the current tenant. At one time, Glen Buchat contained three meal mills and two waulkmills, but by circa 1900 this was the only meal mill remaining in operation. It closed in 1927.