View from N of chimney stalk and retort house associated with former gas works. The retort house had been converted to a viewing point for the waterfalls, which were illuminated at night with differe ...

Description View from N of chimney stalk and retort house associated with former gas works. The retort house had been converted to a viewing point for the waterfalls, which were illuminated at night with different coloured light

Date 12/6/2002

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

Catalogue Number E 32625 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 755080

Scope and Content Retort House Chimney, New Lanark, South Lanarkshire, from north This shows the retort house and chimney which was built in the early 19th century with the falls of Dundaff Linn on the right. The octagonal stone-built chimney has a square base and is unusual as most Scottish chimneys dating from this period were made from brick. The bay on the right has a concrete roof and is now a lookout platform for visitors to view the waterfalls. To make full use of the water available cotton was often spun throughout the night. Gas that was produced in the gasworks would have been used for lighting in the mills as this was a safer alternative to oil lamps. The gas supply to the mills was superseded by electricity-producing turbines introduced in 1898. 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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