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Archaeology Notes
Event ID 877889
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/877889
HY22NE 29.00 25511 27476 New Mill
HY22NE 29.01 25475 27472 Threshing Mill
HY22NE 29.02 25489 27475 Old Mill
The Burn of Boardhouse was harnessed to power a series of corn mills at Barony Mill. This was noted as a bichopric mill in the 16th century, was mentioned in the (Old) Statistical Account, and presumably was one of the four 'mel-mills' in the parish mentioned in the New Statistical Account (NSA). It is still a working mill.
Stat Acct 1795; NSA (Orkney); A Fenton 1978; C D Morris 1989.
(Location cited as HY 253 274). Boardhouse Mills, Birsay, 18th to 19th century. A remarkable complex, consisting of three mills.
The main block (New Barony Corn Mill) is still in use and is a massive three-storey rubble structure, built in 1873, with a large kiln-vent; there are three pairs of stones driven by an iron overshot wheel with wooden buckets of about 14ft (4.3m) diameter.
The other two mills are smaller with mid-breast wheels. The smaller (Old Barony Corn Mill) has the skeleton only; the larger (Boardhouse Threshing Mill) a complete iron wheel with wooden buckets.
J R Hume 1977.
