Building record MAB14059 - GLASSAUGH WINDMILL

Former windmill, dating to the mid 18th Century, now converted to residential use.

Former windmill, dating to the mid 18th Century, now converted to residential use. Also known as Glenglassaugh or Sandend Windmill, and colloquially as the 'cup and saucer'. It is a 4-storey tapered tower circular windmill, of roughly squared and coursed masonry, 7.6 m high and 9.7 m in diameter at its base. The tower is placed on a drystone rubble circular platform base, 2.75 m high and 15.7 m in diameter. This has four openings at right angles to each other, all circa 1.8 m wide. The tower proper has four rows of floor beam sockets 20 cm deep x 10 cm wide at 50 cm intervals, and each level four sockets (in pairs opposite each other) 40 cm square, 1.5 m apart. At each level in the tower there are three equi-spaced window openings and at the top of the base, which seems to have been used as a reefing stage, are three equi-spaced doors. The top course of the tower is about 40 cm deep, of dressed masonry. The door and window openings have dressed quoins, lintels and sills, while inside the openings there are red brick sides and arched heads. The windmill was built on the site of a large burial cairn, 4.26 m high by 15.24 m diameter, the cairn having been removed before 1760 when a cist with bones and a deer antler were found. Now no trace of cairn. It is possible that some of the stones from the cairn were used in the construction of the windmill. A photographic survey was carried out in 2022 prior to proposed redevelopment into residential use. A watching brief during groundworks associated with conversion of the windmill to a dwelling recorded a single posthole within the interior (see NJ56NE0340).

Period Notes
Probably completed in 1761.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 05/05/85 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 22/03/85 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

Author unknown, 1799, OLD STATISTICAL ACCOUNT, (1792) 56-7 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1845.

DONNACHIE, I L, 1966, SCOTTISH WINDMILLS: AN OUTLINE AND INVENTORY. IN PSAS 98 (1964-6) 292, pp292-3 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2414.

Hume, JR, 1977, Industrial Archaeology of Scotland, 175-6 (Bibliographic reference). SAB730.

MORAY FIELD CLUB, 1981, No9 DECEMBER, 16-9, 16-9 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1220.

DOUGLAS, G, 1984, SCOTTISH WINDMILLS - A SURVEY, p.24; ill p.34-35 (Bibliographic reference). SAB4037.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2022, GLASSAUGH WINDMILL, GLASSAUGH, PORTSOY: WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATIO (Bibliographic reference). SAB8609.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2023, GLASSAUGH WINDMILL, GLASSAUGH, PORTSOY: POST-EXCAVATION RESEARCH DESIGN (Bibliographic reference). SAB8608.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2023, PORTSOY, BANFF: DATA STRUCTURE REPORT (Bibliographic reference). SAB8607.

Aug 8 1979 , AAS/79/05/R3/12-5, AAS/79/05/R3/12-5 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB13725.

Aug 11 1992 , AAS/92/08/G8/7-12, AAS/92/08/G8/7-12 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB14358.

Jul 4 2022 , APP/2021/0629, APP/2021/0629 (Ground Photograph). SAB36403.

Jul 7 2006 , DP 019359-61,63, DP 019359-61,63 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB20466.

Jul 8 1988 , AAS/88/04/CT25-6,37, AAS/88/04/CT25-6,37 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB19903.

Jul 8 1988 , AAS/88/04/S10/25-6, AAS/88/04/S10/25-6 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB13726.

Jul 25 1984 , AAS/84/11/S4/1-20/15-6, AAS/84/11/S4/1-20/15-6 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB13727.

Jul 30 1996 , AAS/96/11/CT4, AAS/96/11/CT4 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB16470.

Jul 30 1996 , AAS/96/11/G31/5-7, AAS/96/11/G31/5-7 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB16469.

Jun 14 1994 , C 26599, C 26599 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB20467.

SDD, n.d., BLDS OF ARCH & HIST INTEREST, FORDYCE 57 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1827.

Author unknown, n.d., SCOTS MAGAZINE, APRIL 1986 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1883.

Oct 5 2000 , AAS/00/14/CT58-60, AAS/00/14/CT58-60 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB17496.

Oct 5 2000 , AAS/00/14/G35/12-4, AAS/00/14/G35/12-4 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB17495.

Record last edited

Jul 17 2025 12:17PM