NEW LANARK: Mill No. 3

Description NEW LANARK: Mill No. 3

Date 6/2002

Catalogue Number SC 754850

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of E 32393

Scope and Content Mill No 3, New Lanark, South Lanarkshire, from south-east This shows the covered bridge between the 1881 engine house (right) and Mill No 3 which was built between 1790 and 1792. This bridge is a replica of the covering for the rope drive system which transferred the power generated by the steam engine in the engine house to the mill. The mill was burnt down in 1819 and rebuilt with a fireproof iron frame between 1826 and 1833. The building with three central bays topped by a pediment in the background is Mill No 1, and the lade runs to the right of the cast-iron railings, parallel with the road. Mill No 3 was originally known as the 'jeanie house' because it contained 'spinning jennies', machines which spun cotton into yarn onto spindles. In 1811 the mill employed 398 people of whom 286 were women. 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.

External Reference Original: E32393

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/754850

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap