Meikle Millbank Mill
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Millbank Mill or Meikle Millbank Mill was an old corn mill in Burnbank Glen overlooking the
Barr Loch Barr may refer to: Places * Barr (placename element), element of place names meaning 'wooded hill', 'natural barrier' * Barr, Ayrshire, a village in Scotland * Barr Building (Washington, DC), listed on the US National Register of Historic Places ...
near Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire, south-west Scotland. The present ruins date from at least the end of the 18th century with structural evidence for six phases of development that finally ceased when the mill closed circa 1950. The mill was a two-storey building, developed to become T-shaped complex when at a later stage a grain kiln was added.


History

Milbanck (sic) is recorded on Blaeu's maps of 1654 and 1662-5 although a mill is only suggested by the name itself. In 1796 the mill is depicted on a map by John Ainslie with the mill dam and mill pond located far up the glen at a 'T' junction of the lane that once ran to Auchenhane (sic) rather than the later location near the mill itself. The mill at that time is shown with two buildings above. The miller's dwelling may have doubled as a small farm as most millers had a second occupation in between the busy post-harvest times when the majority of milling took place. At Millmannoch near Coylton the miller also worked as a blacksmith when milling was not required. A Robert Or of Mylbank (sic) is mentioned in a 'Warrant for a Respite' in 1526 and another Robert Orr is recorded in the Poll Tax Register at Myllnebanck (sic) in 1695 with his wife Tean Breadine, daughters Isobel, Margaret and Jean with servants William Allan and Isobel Riddell. A James Ritchie is recorded at Little Myllnebanck is recorded in 1695.


Thirlage

Thirlage was the feudal law by which the laird (lord) could require all those farmers living on his lands to bring their grain to his mill to be ground. Additionally, they had to carry out repairs on the mill, maintain the lade and weir as well as conveying new millstones to the site. The width of some of the first roads was determined by the requirements of at least two people on either side of a grindstone with a wooden axle called a 'mill-wand'.Ferguson, Robert (2005). ''A Miller's Tale. The Life and Times of Dalgarven Mill.'' .Gauldie, Enid (1981). The Scottish Miller 1700 - 1900. Pub. John Donald. The Thirlage Law was repealed in 1779 and after this many mills fell out of use as competition and unsubsidised running costs took their toll. This may explain why so many mills went out of use whilst mills such as Millbank thrived due to their location and natural resources.


Millbank Mill

The corn mill was originally powered by the waters of the Millbank Burn that were originally stored behind a dam then located at the top of the glen, however sometime later a concrete dam was built closer to the mill and a sluice controlled the flow via a lade or mill race to the overshot waterwheel situated within the building. It is unclear as to how the water was delivered to the wheel previous to the concrete dam being built (prior to 1857), as a direct powering from the burn seems unlikely given the location. The dam remains in good condition and looks to be of no great age. A spillway or overflow was located between the sluice and the wooden section of the lade, the elevated head race that directed the water onto the top of the waterwheel inside the mill building. The mill had two sets of
millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a convex stationary base known as the ''bedstone'' and ...
s that were composite, bound together with metal bands and possibly formed of Paris or French
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