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Summary

Description

18th century. Former 2-storeyed water-powered grain mill with attached single storey and attic former barn/cart shed on lower ground to E. Rectangular-plan, rubble built. 1980s interior refurbishment creating teaching and exhibition space.

MILL to W: no existing mill machinery remains (2003). Some inserted openings; large double doors and single door to N elevation and loft windows. Wall plates exposed in N and S elevations. Raggles of 2-storey lean-to to N; later replacement single lean-to to NW corner. Dressed droved quoins and dressed stone surrounds to some openings; coursed rubble. Ashlar skews; raggles in E gable indicate heightened roof level or possibly roof pitch of a former building attached to E.

INTERIOR: circular recess near ground floor level on S elevation (former opening for wheel machinery). Modern interior, open to roof with inserted timber staircase and inserted 1st floor to E, timber lined ceiling. Coloured glass window (1989) in W gable illustrating fish, the Howietoun Fishery summer house and Milnholm Hatchery footbridge, inscribed 'HOWIETOUN THE CRADLE OF AQUACULTURE EST 1881'. The window was dedicated to the memory of Sir James Maitland and unveiled by Michael Forsyth MP, 28th July 1989.

BARN to E: large double door and window to N; blocked windows in attic. Single storey lean-to to S. Various changes in stonework possibly indicate the incorporation of an earlier building and alterations to window and door openings. Random rubble; ashlar skew and stack to E barn gable.

INTERIOR: modernised interior. Internal ground and 1st floor doors connect with mill.

Slate pitched roofs and slate lean-to roofs, barn roof line lower than mill. Raised slated sections in barn roof for ventilation. Modern (late 20th century) timber glazing and modern boarded doors.

Statement of Special Interest

A-Group with Howietoun Fishery, Milnholm Hatchery and Footbridge (see lists for further information). The mill lade ran along the S of the mill, having been diverted from Loch Coulter to Bannock Burn to feed this and a series of other mills along its route. A conduit still exists under the road to the SE of the mill. Sauchiemill is situated at the entrance of Howietoun Fishery and when Sir James Maitland established his fish farm here, the water supply was re-directed from the mill to the fishery. Across the yard from the mill is a short row of associated cottages which contribute to the setting and context of the mill.

In the 1870s, Maitland, on whose estate Sauchiemill stood, began scientific trials into trout breeding and rearing to create what became an internationally renowned and pioneering fishery. At nearby Milnholm, fish were bred in the hatchery and reared in the numerous ponds at Howietoun. Through scientific experimentation, Maitland, who has been dubbed the 'father of scientific aquaculture' (Lannon), pioneered fish farming techniques and set the standard for modern fish farming. He successfully overcame the difficulties in packing and transporting live ova so that by the 1880s, millions of ova were being produced and exported to as far afield as Australia and New Zealand. Howietoun Fishery, Milnholm Hatchery and Sauchiemill were bought by the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling in 1979 primarily for the practical training of students as well as maintaining a commercial enterprise.

Tradition states that within the immediate environs, the Battle of Sauchieburn took place on 11th June 1488.

References

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