Mill Of Crynoch, Crynoch Mill

NO89NE 32 86307 97397

(Location cited as NO 863 974). Crynoch Mill, built 1824. The decaying remains of a one-storey and attic rubble structure with a kiln at one end. The axle and one side of an eight-spoke wood and iron overshot wheel, 3ft (0.91m) wide by 13ft (3.96m) diameter, survive.

J R Hume 1977

Annotated as Crynoch Mill (Corn), one unroofed building and four roofed buildings, one of which is a long building, and two enclosures are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Kincardineshire 1868, sheet vii). Five roofed buildings and one enclosure are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1971).

Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 18 May 1999

A very decayed water-powered grain mill dating from 1824 (Hume 1977) comprising a rectangular rubble-built range, at the N end of which there is a kiln. The roof of the latter has collapsed, and the kiln floor is now inaccessible because of the resulting tumble. The kiln appears to be unusual because its firebox seems to have faced directly into the mill - no protection or division is now apparent, and this would have been a rare arrangement given the fire risks associated with grain milling. Another unusual feature is the substantial buttress running along its east side, from ground to kiln floor level.

The mill itself occupies two floors of the S end of the range, has a gabled roof (now covered with corrugated sheet metal), and coped skews on its S gable above the water wheel pit. The water wheel itself has been removed. but its square cast-iron axle and sockets for eight arms (in each side) remain visible. Hume (1977) gives dimensions as 0.91m wide and 3.69m diameter. The lade, which was built up with rubble sides, survives, as does the remains of a wooden flume, confirming that the water wheel was overshot. Within the mill, a large proportion of the gear cupboard is intact. Other items of machinery that were visible include part of grain/meal dressing machine, an edge-runner mill, and parts of bucket elevators and chutes. On the upper floor, one pair of millstones remains in place, as does the lower stone of the second pair. Other items of interest include the vertical line shafts leading up form the gear cupboard to the roof space and the sack hoist, bucket elevators, hoppers, and a chute from the kiln floor.

At the time of visit, the mill was in a poor condition, was filled with discarded junk and furniture, and was infested with vermin. Parts of the upper floor were rotten, the lower floor was flooded, and the kiln roof had collapsed. However, plans were under way to convert it to a dwelling.

Visited by RCAHMS (MKO), 21 April 1999.

J R Hume (1977).