Busby, Lower Mill
Cotton Mill (Period Unassigned), Dam (Period Unassigned), Lade (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Busby, Lower Mill
Classification Cotton Mill (Period Unassigned), Dam (Period Unassigned), Lade (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Lower Dam
Canmore ID 43843
Site Number NS55NE 49
NGR NS 5782 5692
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/43843
- Council East Renfrewshire
- Parish Mearns
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Eastwood
- Former County Renfrewshire
NS55NE 49 5782 5692
Depicted on OS 6" map, Renfrewshire, 1st ed., (1863), sheet xvii.
NS 5782 5692 The site of Lower Mill, Busby (NS55NE 49), founded in 1790 by James Doxon was the subject of a desk-based assessment and walkover survey in February 2004. Only one mill building survives, dating to 1790 with a later addition of 1858-97. The mill lade and rock-cut tunnel that joined the lades of the Upper Mill and Lower Mill survive in fairly good if overgrown and infilled condition. The location of the wheel pit and the join between the lade and the wheel pit and millpond has been infilled
with later demolition debris and make-up material, but probably survives in reasonable condition. The remainder of the site to the N of the surviving mill building, including the larger mill building which was destroyed by fire in the late 1960s, appears to have been comprehensively levelled and has been redeveloped as a small-scale industrial estate. Levels of archaeological survival in this area are not expected to be good on the basis of the geotechnical site investigations, but some foundations may survive in situ.
Report lodged with WoSAS SMR.
Sponsor: Cala Homes.
Three storey sandstone former mill building associated with the Lower Mill. Busby cotton mills were amongst the earliest in Scotland, the upper mill was demolished in 1900 and the lower mill burned down in 1968. The mills were built on difficult sites but capitalised on the fall in Busby Glen which is the highest fall on the White Cart. (Dr Stuart Nesbitt)
Some cotton mill workers were housed at Smithy Row, a two-storey cottage terrace with a thatched roof, which was situated where Lower Mill Road is today. The Lower Mill, where they worked, would have been only 100 yards or so from their doors. (East Renfrewshire Council)
