Archaeology Notes
Event ID 804206
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/804206
NT17SW 47.00 10481 70622
Lin's Mill Aqueduct [NAT]
OS 1:10,000 map [no date available].
NT17SW 47.01 NT 10555 70578 Toll House
Aqueduct, carrying the [Edinburgh and Glasgow Union] Canal over the River Almond at Lin's Mill. c. 1820.
C McWilliam 1978.
Lin's Mill Aqueduct, built 1820-2, carries the Union Canal (Lin 538) over the River Almond. Designed by Hugh Baird, but modelled on Thomas Telford's aqueduct at Chirk on the Ellesmere Canal, and Telford's advice was sought before this aqueduct was built.
J Lindsay 1968; G Hutton 1993.
The designer of this simple aqueduct, Baird, consulted Thomas Telford and based the design on the Ellesmere Canal Aqueducts (Chirk and Pontcysyllte), on which the latter had worked. Originally Baird had planned to have a single arch with embankments, but eventually built this 'standard' arched aqueduct. A sluice (NT17SW 178), allowing water to pour into the River Almond below, assists the control of the water level in the canal.
G Hutton 1993.
This aqueduct is clearly marked on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Edinburghshire 1853, sheet 5), on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map and on the OS 1:10000 raster map (ND).
Information from RCAHMS (MD), 22 February 2001.
This aqueduct carries the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal over the deep and wooded gorge of the River Almond to the SW of Lin's Mill (NT17SW 11). Its situation and elevation make photography difficult, but the towpath (on the N side of the canal) commands an impressive view to the N. A canal feeder (NT17SW 177) from Cobbinshaw Reservoir (NT05NW 34.00) enters the canal immediately to the E.
Although the entire structure lies within the parish of Kirkliston, the River Almond here forms the boundary between the council areas of West Lothian (to the W) and Edinburgh (to the E).
The location assigned to this record defines the midpoint of the structure. The available map evidence (GIS) suggests that it extends from NT c. 10438 70638 to NT c. 10532 70600.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 3 March 2006.
