Baldernock Mill

NS 57491 74774 An excavation at Baldernock was commissioned by Professor Paul Bishop to look for an 18th-century lint (flax) mill that is shown on an 1805 plan of Kettlehill Farm on the Douglaston Estate in Baldernock. The mill site is depicted as a rectangular roofed building adjacent to a mill dam. Six trenches were hand excavated by volunteers 15 – 19 May 2018. Sediment trapped behind a mill dam upstream of the site was also sampled for sedimentological analysis (grain-size and OSL characteristics) and for age-dating (contents of total lead (Pb), 210Pb and 137Cs). The lade, consisting of two low walls 0.5m apart with a shallow channel between them, was revealed in the N part of the site and was traced for a distance of c6m. The mill itself was not located, although remains of coursed stonework on the stream side have the potential to be associated with the mill. Several lengths of stonework adjacent to the stream were cleared of vegetation and it is thought that these could be either remains of the lade leading to the mill, or a revetment of the stream bank. After demolition in the early 19th century, the site became an informal area of rough woodland and was covered with a deep deposit of hill wash from the nearby field uphill to the W. It was subsequently used as a dump for domestic and agricultural waste from the neighbouring Dowan Farm in the ?early to mid-20th century.

Finds included 19th- and 20th-century glass, pottery, metal and brick debris that was dumped on the site after the abandonment of the mill.

Archive: NRHE (intended). Report: Calluna Archaeology

Funder: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

Heather James and Paul Bishop – Calluna Archaeology

(Source: DES Vol 19)

NS 57491 74774 In May 2019, a second season of excavation took place at the site of an 18th century lint (flax) mill that was depicted on an 1805 plan of Kettlehill Farm, as a rectangular roofed building adjacent to a mill dam. Four trenches, first opened in 2018, were extended and a new trench was excavated.

Two low walls, 0.5m apart, formed a mill lade about 9m long. The junction with the stream at the N end was marked by large squared stones that were not exposed fully in order to reduce erosion by the stream. At the southern end the stone lade faded away and the channel became an informal V-shaped cut. There was a square stone setting towards the southern end of the lade which was interpreted as a drain. This would have taken water eastwards from the lade out to the stream, beneath large slabs and boulders. A substantial wall that supported the lade turned 90 degrees and headed towards the stream about 2m south of the drain. The mill itself was not located, although remains of coursed stonework on the stream side have the potential to be associated with the mill. Several lengths of stonework adjacent to the stream were cleared of vegetation and it is thought that these could be either remains of the lade leading to the mill, or a revetment of the stream bank.

Archive: NRHE (intended)

Funder: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

Paul Bishop and Heather James - Calluna Archaeology

(Source: DES Vol 20)