Barry Mill: A Working Watermill in Angus
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.7
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- British, Kingdom of Scotland
- Site type
- Economic
- Remains
- Watermill
On this page14 sections
History
Barry Mill is a historic watermill in Scotland, United Kingdom, established by Cistercian monks beside the Barry Burn by no later than 1539. The present building dates from the rebuilding of 1814, when the Over Mill was reconstructed after a fire. Its surviving machinery and later restoration preserve the history of oatmeal milling in Angus.
Monastic origins and early ownership
The Barry estate belonged to Balmerino Abbey by 1229. Balmerino was a Cistercian monastery in Fife, and its monks managed agricultural estates and productive installations such as mills. By 1539, they had established a mill on the Barry Burn at the site. There were originally two mills: the Nether Mill produced corn, while the Over Mill processed oats.
The Scottish Reformation, the sixteenth-century religious transformation that established Protestantism in Scotland, brought a major change in ownership. In 1587, the Crown annexed the properties of Balmerino Abbey. The estate was granted to James Elphinstone, 1st Lord Balmerino, in 1605. The mills were sold to Robert Watson in the late seventeenth century, and ownership passed to his son-in-law, Robert Gardyne, during the 1680s. The Gardyne family retained the mill until 1811.
Rebuilding and industrial use
Milling at the Nether Mill was eventually discontinued. The Over Mill was destroyed by fire in 1814 and rebuilt by Thomas Gardyne of Middleton and Barry. That rebuilt structure is Barry Mill today. The separate Nether Mill, dating from 1783, survived in another use as a store building.
The Gunn family purchased Barry Mill in 1926. During the 1930s and 1940s, they extended and altered the building. Oatmeal production continued until the late 1970s, after which the mill produced only animal feed. Flood damage to the mill lade, the purpose-built channel that carries water to a mill, ended commercial operations in the early 1980s, by 1984 at the latest.
Restoration and protection
The National Trust for Scotland, a Scottish heritage charity that manages historic buildings and cultural sites, acquired the derelict mill in 1988. Over the next four years it was restored to the condition associated with the 1814 rebuilding. Barry Mill reopened in 1992 as a working demonstration mill and educational attraction.
In March 2009, financial difficulties placed Barry Mill among eleven National Trust for Scotland properties threatened with closure or temporary mothballing. A public meeting on 25 March led to the creation of the Friends of Barry Mill, which raised funds and campaigned for its survival. In July, continued operation was secured through pledged support from Angus Council and the Gibson Graham Charitable Trust.
The mill and the nearby bridge on the former road between Barry Grange and Panbride received Category B listed-building status in 1971. The former Nether Mill received Category C status in 1980, while Barry Mill was upgraded to Category A in December 2009. These Scottish categories indicate levels of architectural and historic importance, with Category A being the highest. The National Trust for Scotland now owns and operates Barry Mill, described as the only functioning watermill in Angus.
Remains
Barry Mill is a three-storey watermill beside the Barry Burn. Its irregular plan is roughly L-shaped, with walls of roughly dressed red sandstone and slate-covered roofs. The building contains a basement meal floor, a milling floor, and an upper bin floor, while the associated kiln, wheel building, dam, lade, former Nether Mill, and bridge form part of the surviving mill setting.
Mill building and oat processing
Processing floors
The milling process moves oats through the three levels of the building. Oats are raised to the upper bin floor, released into a hopper, and fed to the millstones on the floor below. After the first milling, the shelled oats, known as groats, descend to the basement. There, a fan separates the groats from their husks. The groats are then lifted again to the bin floor for a second milling, after which the oatmeal descends to the basement for bagging.
Millstones and drive mechanism
Two pairs of millstones remain inside the mill. The first pair is made of sandstone and removes the outer husks from the grain. The second pair is made of French burrstone, a hard stone traditionally used for grinding grain, and turns the shelled oats into oatmeal. In the basement, beech-wood levers, cogs, and gears transmit power from the waterwheel to the millstones, hoists, and separating fan.
Water supply and wheel building
Dam and lade
A dam and lade on the Barry Burn lie approximately half a mile upstream. The channel directs water to the mill and supplies an overshot waterwheel, which is powered by water falling onto its upper part. The wheel is installed in a separate wheel building, and the water reaches it from the downstream side of the lade.
Overshot waterwheel
The wheel measures approximately 4.7 metres in diameter, or 15 feet 6 inches, and has 30 suspended buckets. It is probably the wheel made around 1881 by the Douglas Foundry of Dundee. Its rotation powers the internal machinery through the basement transmission system.
Kiln and associated structures
Drying kiln
The associated kiln was fired with peat to dry oats. Its semicircular form is characteristic of the region and reflects the preparation of grain before milling.
Nether Mill and bridge
The former Nether Mill is a separate building dating from 1783 and survives as a store. Nearby, the bridge formed part of the former road linking Barry Grange with Panbride. The former mill stables have been converted into a visitor centre, while displays inside the mill interpret the work and daily life of the mill and its millers. A traditional threshing machine is also displayed at the mill.
