Rising through four floors and powered by a six metre water wheel, this is one of the oldest and tallest grain mills surviving in Scotland. The machinery rescued from a mill in the Scottish Borders, shows the skills of the Victorian engineers or mill-wrights who designed such mills. The wheel turns daily when water supplies and personnel are available. The wheel is undershot and turns anti-clockwise, but we have no explanation for the video above which seems to show the inner and outer parts turning in different directions. Why not come and see for yourselves.
There has been a mill on this site since 1203, this was the Waulk Mill of Kilwinning Abbey. A Grain and Flour mill was built in 1614 and in 1622 both mills were bought by the Blair’s of Blair who were to own them until 1922, when the Ferguson family bought them. In 1869 a disastrous fire destroyed the original grain mill, the collection of mills, barns, byres stables and cottages that visitors see today, date from the rebuilding after this fire. The architecture and appearance of the buildings have not been altered by the new use, and they remain an unspoilt vernacular architectural masterpiece.
