Milladen Mill, Old Deer, Old Deer, Aberdeenshire

Description

Milladen Mill is a three-storey woollen mill, dating from 1868, but fabric from an earlier mill of 1789 may be incorporated. The main building is rectangular in plan, with a double attic and various abutments to the long (southeast and northwest) elevations. The mill is built into a steep bank and is largely constructed in harl-pointed, coursed rubble. A series of alterations and additions were carried out in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Milladen Mill is accessed by a road leading off Nether Aden Road which runs between South Street in Mintlaw and the B9030 road between Stuartfield and Old Deer.

The main (northwest) elevation has multiple bays and is accessed via an entrance door on the upper floor (set within a later 20^th century mono-pitched porch). A three-storey return with a double-hipped roof abuts to the south end, which is contemporary with the main mill building and is similarly detailed. A two-storey, hip-roofed return abuts the re-entrant angle. A further two-storey addition abuts to the southwest corner, with walls clad in corrugated metal and a timber frame over a rendered base. Both of these appear to date from the later 19^th century.

The gabled southwest elevation is largely two-bays, with the apex faced in replacement corrugated-metal. There is a low-breast, three-ring, start-and-awe type waterwheel, attached to the building, which measures 16 by 6 feet in diameter and dates from 1868. It has curved, sheet-metal paddles (awes) and metal spokes that date from 1912. The southwest elevation is adjoined to the west by the four-bay return that abuts the front (northwest) elevation (see above paragraph).

The rear (southeast) elevation is similar in appearance to the main (northwest) elevation, with regular window openings on each level and an entrance door on the upper floor. A rectangular-plan, two-storey addition with a pitched slate roof abuts to left-of-centre, dating from around the early 20^th century.

The northeast elevation has three openings and is gabled, with only the apex rising above ground level. Two of the openings are accessed via metal ladders/footholds.

The window openings have roughly tooled rybats and are of varying sizes throughout, with those on the third floor spaced in regular intervals. The southwest elevation has replacement fixed or casement timber windows in a mixture of glazing patterns. The roofs are predominantly slated with small rooflights and a single dormer to the northwest and southeast roof pitches.

Internally, the mill contains some iron waterwheel apparatus and a mid-20^th century Bryce Power Capacitor.

The mill lade is a concrete-lined structure that runs from west to east, towards the mill. It measures approximately 2.5 metres wide by 75cm deep. There is a sluice gate and a filter grate at the start of the lade, where the water is diverted from South Ugie Water, and the road is carried over the lade on granite slabs and boulders. There is a footpath running alongside the lade and the remains of iron sluice gates and stone footbridges are visible along its length. There is an overflow system at the mill end with a wheel redirection tunnel built of brick and rubble.

There is a small single-storey block to the east, a long single-storey range further to the east, and a two-storey store to the west. These date from after the mid-20^th century and are excluded from the listing. There is a garden in front of the mill and a carpark at the rear.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: two detached ancillary buildings to east and two-storey store to west.

Historical development

Many textile mills were built in Scotland in the late-18^th and early-19^th centuries following the mechanisation of carding and spinning.

Milladen Mill (also known as Mill of Aden) was founded in 1789 as a water-powered flax mill, located on Aden estate lands about halfway between Stuartfield and Old Deer. In 1798 the Reverend George Cruden took out a feu and the mill switched to wool carding and cloth production (Aberdeen Press and Journal).

Between 1835 and 1837 Milladen Mill was taken over by Alexander Rennie, the mill later operating as J C Rennie & Co. Ltd. The New Statistical Account of 1845 notes there were two woollen mills with spinning jennies and looms in the parish of Old Deer, of which Aden (Milladen) produced coarser woollen cloth and yarn for stockings (pp.158-59). Up until the early 1970s, the woollen cloth made here was finished at Quartalehouse, a water-powered waulk-mill, nearby in Stuartfield (SCRAN).

The current listed building record notes Milladen Mill was reconstructed in 1868, and around this time four mules, carding machinery, looms and the low-breast waterwheel were added to the mill (SCRAN). It is unclear how much fabric of the original mill was incorporated in the reconstruction. Further alterations and additions to the mill were carried out following fire damage in 1877.

The 1^st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1870 shows two mills named Mill of Aden, one is labelled as a corn mill (to the west) and the other as a woollen mill (to the east). The Ordnance Survey Name Book (1865-71) describes Milladen (Mill of Aden) as a substantial woollen mill producing flannel and worsted, employing about 28 hands when in full operation. It was occupied and operated by Alexander Rennie and owned by Mr Russell Esq of Aden (OS1/1/68/160). Ownership of the mill transferred from the Russells of Aden to the Rennie family sometime during the 19^th century.

In 1887 a retail warehouse was built at Mintlaw Station to house stock, presumably for easy distribution by rail. This warehouse was destroyed by fire in 1928 (Aberdeen Press and Journal, 1928). Machinery upgrades and further additions and alterations to the mill were completed in the early-20^th century, including the addition of curved iron paddles and iron spokes to the waterwheel in 1912 (SCRAN). By the 1930s the mill was producing woollen yarn, tweeds, blankets and rugs for local and nationwide sale (Aberdeen Press and Journal, 1937, Banffshire Journal and General Advertiser).

Milladen Mill continued to be powered by water into the late 1970s/1980s. The mill is currently powered by electricity, however the lade is flowing with water and the waterwheel remains in position with the intention of engaging waterpower in the future. The mill continues to operate as a woollen mill and retail outlet under the name J C Rennie & Co (2020).

Statement of Interest

Milladen Mill and mill lade meet the criteria of special architectural or historic interest for the following reasons:

The mill complex is a rare surviving example of a functioning woollen mill in a rural setting, that has remained in use since the mid-19^th century.

The associated waterwheel and mill lade system are both largely intact and their survival is integral to our overall understanding of the industrial site.

The building and the site have been subject to various alterations and additions but much of the mid-19^th century character and form remains evident.

The setting is largely well-retained and informs our understanding of how the mill site developed over time.

The mill complex continues to illustrate an industry that was once vital to the economic and social history of this part of Scotland.

Architectural interest:

Design

Milladen Mill

The overall design and rubble construction of Milladen Mill is typical for a rural mill building of its date. Water-powered mills were usually designed to be simple, functional buildings with little architectural detailing, often built using locally sourced stone. The long rectangular plan form of the central section of the building is a standard design for a mill, providing ample space for large mill machinery and its evenly spaced rooflights providing sufficient light for workers.

The mill has been altered by the replacement of the roofing material, the insertion of replacement windows, the corrugated gable to the southwest elevation and by the addition and removal of various other ancillary structures. However, such changes are not uncommon for a building that has continued in its original use as a working woollen mill since the mid-19^th century.

The survival of the mid-19^th century waterwheel is an important feature as it demonstrates how a water-powered mill operates. The low breast-shot, start-and-awe waterwheel is a type of undershot wheel that allows water to hit the wheel roughly in the centre. The metal paddles (awes) are wide to collect more water in each paddle and the breast-shot design uses the energy of the water twice, as the wheel sits in the water, allowing the 'waste' water to aid wheel rotation as it flows away.

The survival of machinery to the interior, such as the Bryce Capacitor, and metalwork relating to the waterwheel mechanism are of interest as they add to our understanding of the function of the building over time, including its conversion to electricity.

Mill lade

Mill lades are the channels that deliver water to drive the wheel of a mill. They can divert water from rivers or from artificial mill-dams. The mill lade system to the west of Milladen Mill diverts water from the South Ugie Water and includes a lade control, footbridge and overflow. The lade system allows water re-join the river southeast of the mill at a slightly lower elevation.

The lade system remains largely intact and has water flowing through it. It has been artificially lined with concrete, but this was a typical method of improvement for earlier mills that continued to operate in the 20^th century. The layout of the lade, including the remnants of sluice gates and lade controls, is an integral feature of the overall mill site and its survival is of interest in listing terms.

Setting

Most water-powered mills are found in rural locations and Milladen Mill is no exception. The mill retains much of its historic setting, including its integral mill lade network which diverts the South Ugie Water, a tributary of the River Ugie which flows into the North Sea at Peterhead.

The footprint of the mill and mill lade remains largely as that shown on the 1^st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1870. The changes in plan form of the mill and the addition of various ancillary buildings indicates the historical and industrial development of Milladen over time. Aerial images show lade structures remain visible in the landscape, such as metal sluice gates and paths alongside the lade trenches, giving further evidence of the industrial past of the area.

Historic interest:

Age and rarity

Water-powered mills use either the force of flowing water or the weight of water to turn water wheels that then drive machinery. This could be applied to a wide range of uses and as such, they were a major feature of waterways across Scotland prior to, during and after the Industrial Revolution.

The Ordnance Survey Name Book notes that by 1870 there were ten mills in the parish of Old Deer, eight of which were corn mills and two were woollen mills (Milladen and Millbreck). Many of these no longer survive and therefore Milladen Mill is a rare surviving example of its building type in the parish.

The 1^st and 2^nd Edition Ordnance Survey maps of 1870 and 1899 show that the area around Milladen and the village of Stuartfield had a number of lade and mill pond systems redirecting the South Ugie Water to power grain and woollen mills. Once common across Scotland, water-powered mills of the late 18^th and early 19^th century are now rare, with the majority demolished or substantially altered.

The former waulkmill at Quartalehouse operated as a finishing mill for the products produced at Milladen and is now converted to a house (listed at category B, LB19776). A grain mill, located at the southern end of the village of Stuartfield, is also now converted to a house (listed at category B, LB16102).

Milladen Mill is a rare surviving example of a woollen mill that remains in operational use and largely retains its 19^th century form and character. A number of key industrial features are also retained, such as its mill lade, waterwheel and some items of internal machinery, which tell us about how water mills functioned during the 19^th and 20^th centuries. The survival of such associated elements is increasingly rare and add to its special interest under this heading.

Social historical interest

Social historical interest is the way a building contributes to our understanding of how people lived in the past, and how our social and economic history is shown in a building and/or in its setting.

The survival of Milladen Mill and its mill lade directly illustrates the industrial history in the parish of Old Deer.

Association with people or events of national importance

There is no association with a person or event of national importance.

Other Information

James Scott Skinner composed a tune called Milladen in 1891. The handwritten manuscript is inscribed "to J C Rennie Esq. Milladen, Mintlaw a capital violinist and friend of the composer" (James Scott Skinner, University of Aberdeen).

Designed by Arthur Clyne, Milladen House (unlisted) is located northeast of the mill and was built in 1901 as the mill manager's house for Mr Rennie (Peterhead Sentinel and General Advertiser for Buchan District).

Statutory address and listed building record revised in February 2021. Previously listed as 'Milladen, Mill'.

External Links

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British Listed Buildings

History in Structure

Milladen Mill, Old Deer

A Category B Listed Building in Old Deer, Aberdeenshire

Coordinates

Description

Statement of Interest

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