Islay, Foreland Tileworks
Tile Works (19th Century)
Site Name Islay, Foreland Tileworks
Classification Tile Works (19th Century)
Canmore ID 37424
Site Number NR26SE 17
NGR NR 2721 6463
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/37424
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Kilchoman
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
Field Visit (May 1976)
NR26SE 17 2721 6463
The remains of this small industrial complex stand on the edge of marshland about 400m NE of Foreland House. The L-shaped layout consists of drying-shed, engine-house and kiln, and there are traces of clay-pits nearby.
The foundations and upstanding masonry piers are all that now survive of the former drying-shed. It measures 30.6m in length from N to S by 8.3m in overall width. The piers, which divide its length into ten bays, stand to a height of about 3m and are battered externally. The engine-house is a roofless shell about 10m square, at the centre of which are the remains of a cylindrical clay-mixing machine of cast iron. This measures about 0.8m in diameter and was formerly horse-driven by an overhead shaft from an internal horse-gang. The ruinous kiln, which forms the w limb of the layout, is of a two-aisled updraught type, measuring just over 14m from N to S by 9.7m transversely and incorporating vaulted and buttressed side-aisles about 3m in width.
This is almost certainly the plant that was described in 1843 as having lately been erected for making drain-tiles. (New Statistical Account 1845).
Visited May 1976
RCAHMS 1984
