page_title: Dalgarven Mill – Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume
section_title: History of the Dalgarven mills
hierarchical_section_title: Dalgarven Mill – Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume / History of the Dalgarven mills
caption_attribution_description: English: The dalgarven Mill waterwheel following renovation.
context_page_description: Dalgarven Mill is near Kilwinning, in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland and it is home to the Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume. The watermill has been completely restored over a number of years and is run by the independent Dalgarven Mill Trust.
  The village of Dalgarven was largely destroyed by the construction of the main A737 road, but the mill buildings survive and are open as a tourist attraction and educational resource, interpreting local history in addition to its role as a museum of Ayrshire country life. Very few mills remain in Ayrshire and this is an example which has been preserved due to the foresight of the family of the last miller who saw a modern role for an ancient industrial site and traditional social meeting-place. Some of the outbuildings have been converted for use as an antique shop, others are still occupied as dwellings and some are in the process of being converted to uses which will enhance the quality of the experience of visitors to the mill complex.
  The Ferguson family, descendants of the last miller, are still involved with the running of the museum, working with a board of trustees who are all volunteers.
context_section_description: There has been a mill on this site of Groatholm since the 14th century, set up by the monks of Kilwinning Abbey. The first mill was a waulk or fulling mill producing woollen cloth. Retting was carried out here in ponds next to the river, this process being a stage in the manufacturing of vegetable fibres, especially the bast fibres. It involves submerging plant stems such as flax, jute or hemp in water, and soaking them for a period of time to loosen the fibers from the other components of the stem. The fibres can then be used to produce linen and other products, such as paper for banknotes, rope, etc.
  The present mill was erected in 1614 as a corn mill and rebuilt in 1880 after being damaged by fire. The River Garnock's waters power a 6-metre diameter breast-shot wheel that drives the French burr millstones through cast iron gearing.
  The traditional methods of producing flour can be followed during a tour of the mill. The wheel turns, when possible, following the almost total renewal of the mill machinery and a recent (2006-9) replacement of wooden components of the wheel, sluice, etc.
  The mill race, leat or lade was critical to the efficient working of the mill and was a specialised craft; a leatwright is recorded on a grave in the Loudoun Kirk graveyard near Galston, East Ayrshire.
  The weir on the River Garnock is made of boulders which are carefully placed and locked together creating a millpond that supplies a good head of water to the wheel through the lade. The weir was built on a natural dyke which runs across the Garnock at this point, its existence being carefully exploited by the monks of Kilwinning Abbey who chose the site for the mill. These dykes (bands of especially hard rock) are found at several points crossing the river and many were elsewhere were exploited as the bases for dams, such as also occurred at Cunninghamhead Mill on the River Annick.
  A feature of many mills was the presence of trees or other structures shading the wheel from the intense summer sun. The reason for this was that when the wheel was not turning the wood components dried out and warped, putting a great deal of stress on the whole structure, putting it out of shape and creating breaks in the buckets, etc. At Dalgarven the wheel was originally enclosed by high walls which served the same purpose as trees.
  The Dalgarven wheel is a low breastshot, where the water strikes the wheel at a quarter of its diameter or height of the wheel and it turns with an anti-clockwise rotation. On the outer edge of each bucket is a 'sacrificial board' which will break away if any object becomes wedged beneath it. This is very important, as the stresses and strains set up by the wheel suddenly stopping would cause considerable damage to the various cogs and to the drive to the grinding stones themselves, which have significant mass and momentum when employed in the process of grinding. The use of iron brackets to provide support to the wooden paddles on the wheel is an unusual feature. The massive wooden hirst supporting the grindstones can be viewed from inside of the mill.
  In the 1940s, the miller at Dalgarven used the wheel to produce electricity which was stored in liquid acid batteries. At present (2006) the Mill Trustees are looking into the possibilities of using the wheel to produce electricity to help offset the mills contribution to global warming on the basis of 'Think Global, Act Local'.
  The mill building has an unusual structural feature, an alcove, designed to attract nesting owls which would then feed off and help to control the vermin which stores of cereals and other foodstuffs always attract.
  One feature of the mill is the relatively small number of windows. This may be purely practical, however avoidance of paying too high a 'window tax' may have been a consideration. Window tax was first levied in England in 1696 to offset the expenses of making up the gold and silver deficiency in the re-coinage of William III reign caused by clipping and filing of coins. It was set at two shillings for small tenements, six shillings for buildings 
caption: The mill waterwheel after a recent renovation
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