Oblique view from W of New Lanark Road, with New Buildings in foreground (left), telephone box (right), and the Counting House (Caithness Row) in background

Description Oblique view from W of New Lanark Road, with New Buildings in foreground (left), telephone box (right), and the Counting House (Caithness Row) in background

Date 13/6/2002

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number E 32551 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 755007

Scope and Content New Buildings, New Lanark, South Lanarkshire, from north-west This shows the main 13-bayed block of the New Buildings which were built between 1798 and 1810. The projecting three central bays are surmounted with a pediment with an oculus window and a bellcote on a square plinth which was originally on Mill No 1 and moved to its present location in the mid-19th century. The three-storeyed block (left) is part of the Nursery Buildings and is the village shop. The single-storeyed block (centre) was originally a bakery and the Counting House is the rounded block in the background. The telephone call box was added between 1950 and 1960. The New Buildings were originally built as homes for workers but, as Owen wanted to improve the morals of his workforce, he added halls on the upper floor. Religious services and Sunday schools were held in these halls until 1898 when a church was constructed. By 1903 the building contained flats, halls and a surgery. The block was restored after 1978. New Lanark was founded c.1785 by David Dale (1739-1806), a Glasgow merchant, and Richard Arkwright (1732-92), inventor of a water-frame for cotton spinning. Powered by water flowing from the Falls of Clyde the first cotton mill opened in 1786 and by 1799 the complex was the largest of its kind in Scotland. Robert Owen (1771-1858), who was married to David Dale's daughter, was one of a group who bought the mills in 1800. He transformed them into a model industrial community with good working conditions, houses, a non-profit store, a school and an institute for workers. Owen's partners bought the mills in 1828 and operated them until 1881 when another partnership took over. The Gourock Ropework Company ran the site until 1968 which is now mainly under the care of the New Lanark Conservation Trust (founded 1974-5). New Lanark was designated a World Heritage Site in 2001. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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