A Weaving and Carding Mill in Tillicoultry

CFA Archaeology has published a new article in Volume 48 of The Forth Naturalist and Historian - 'Weaving and Carding Mill, Alexandra Street, Tillicoultry', written by Harry Francis and Ian Suddaby.

Trench locations overlaid on the 1864 OS Map.

This article describes an archaeological evaluation undertaken in January 2024 by CFA in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Three trenches were excavated prior to the erection of a new house. These aimed to investigate whether there were any surviving remains of two long buildings associated with a former 19th- to 20th-century weaving and carding mill, as seen on an 1864 Ordnance Survey (OS) map. The mill, Devonpark Knitwear Factory, was a single-storey building constructed as a spinning mill and featured workshops, a boiler house, an engine house, and a tall chimney.

Our excavations revealed the remains of brick and sandstone walls associated with both of the buildings seen on the OS map - one of which can be seen near the left edge of the below photograph, taken by John R. Hume in 1971. It appears to be in use as a house at this time, with washing drying in the garden.

Photograph of the evaluation area and the nearby buildings taken by John R. Hume (1971) (SC00785923) © HES. Reproduced courtesy of J R Hume.

Overall, the evidence from the excavation and the documentary records do not indicate a clear function for the buildings. They may've always been residential buildings, as seen in 1971, and likely housed people working in or associated with the mill. Alternatively, they may have been originally used for storage or other mill activities, before being converted for residential use later on following redevelopments within the mill layout.

You can read more on this site, and the other articles in Volume 48, by contacting the Forth Naturalist and Historian directly.