General view of mill with millstone being re-used as stepping stone.

Description General view of mill with millstone being re-used as stepping stone.

Date 1899

Collection Papers of Erskine Beveridge, antiquarian, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 743218

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of AG 1732

Scope and Content Corn Mill, Caoles, Tiree, Argyll & Bute Caoles, an early 19th-century crofting community on the north-east tip of Tiree, overlooks the Gunna Sound, the short stretch of water that lies between the island and Coll. The remains of a corn mill, built in the traditional manner of the Highlands and Islands, that is with the water striking the paddles horizontally like a turbine, were photographed by Erskine Beveridge c.1898. This small detached building was in operation until 1885. It has enormously thick drystone walls, built from local granitic boulders, which rise to a broad ledge at the wall-head. The external angles are rounded to offer resistance to the wind, and there is a small window with small panes of glass, almost hidden in the depth of the wall. The roof is covered with thatch, possibly 'bents', a sea grass found locally on the dunes, and secured by a network of ropes tied across the roof and anchored with a fringe of stones at the wall-head. In the 19th century arable farming was one of Tiree's main economies, and the rich harvest of grain sustained several mills on the island (as well as whisky production). Grain was ground with horizontal wheels driven by a head of water released from a dammed pool, but the source of water power on the island often proved inadequate. Arable farming was mainly replaced by cattle grazing towards the end of the 19th century. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/743218

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap