Building record MAB6775 - DEANSHAUGH MILLS

Mills, only part of which remains, said to have been established in 1797 by Alexander Johnston as a woollen mill, later used as a linen and tobacco mill.

Mills, only part of which remains, said to have been established in 1797 by Alexander Johnston as a woollen mill, later used as a linen and tobacco mill. Shown on Wood's town plan of 1822 as belonging to Mrs Longmore and named as 'Bleachfield'. On Ray's later plan of 1838 the mill is shown as under the ownership of Mrs Forsyth. Depicted on the 1st edition OS map as Corn and Saw mills. It was partly damaged by fire in 1847 and was rebuilt, but seems to have gone out of use by the mid 1890s and is but shown as disused on the 2nd edition OS map. Most of the buildings have been removed, although ruins of one structure remains to the south of Deanshaugh House. Earthworks of possible sub-surface remnants of the mill buildings were noted during a watching brief associated with the Elgin Flood Alleviation Scheme in 2007. During the excavation of 8 trial pits in the area, a destruction layer of building debris including glass, slate, timber, tiles, and large dressed stones was observed. Much of the site was excavated in August 2011 by AOC, in advance of the proposed Flood Alleviation Scheme. Of the two excavation areas, the first revealed the remains of a mill building complete with a central lade, wheel pit and corn drier. The excavation also uncovered the remains of a second mill lade, and two stone-built bridges constructed to cross the lades. Infilling the central lade and surrounding the mill structure on the southern, eastern and western sides was a late Victorian domestic dump which did not extend across the building remains, perhaps suggesting that the mill was still upstanding at time of the creation of the dump. The second excavation area uncovered the remains of a stone flagged floor and the remnant wall foundations of a second building. A watching brief to the north of the excavation area was carried out by AOC Archaeology in 2013 during groundworks for the Elgin Flood Alleviation Scheme. It recorded a circular stone capped well, measuring 2m in diameter and comprising roughly hewn sandstone setts with two large sandstone slabs covering the top. Building survey of the building remains to the north of the lade was carried out in 2015 prior to redevelopment. The former mill building is rectangular, built of sandstone rubble with dressed quoins of yellow and pink sandstone. A possible circular arch on the inside of the south gable may indicate the location of the wheel. Monitoring of subsequent works revealed that the north end of the building was an addition to the mill. Excavation within the mill revealed the north wall of the original mill. Some of the buildings to the North may be associated with Deansaugh House (NJ26SW0207).

Period Notes
Said to have been built c.1797

HERBERT, C, 2007, ELGIN FAS ARCHAEOLOGICAL ATTENDANCE - GROUND INVESTIGATIONS (Bibliographic reference). SAB2731.

HERBERT, C, 2007, Elgin FAS Archaeological Attendance:Contaminated L (Bibliographic reference). SAB2732.

HERBERT, C., 2007, MFA06-ARCHAEOLOGICAL ATTENDANCE FEBRUARY REPORT, p.4, 6, 24-25 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2734.

interim report

HERBERT, C., 2007, MFA06-ARCHAEOLOGICAL ATTENDANCE MARCH REPORT, p.17, 20-21 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2735.

interim report

AOC ARCHAEOLOGY, 2011, DEANSHAUGH MILLS, ELGIN: EXCAVATION: DATA STRUCTURE REPORT, DSR (Bibliographic reference). SAB3550.

AOC, 2011, DEANSHAUGH MILLS, ELGIN: POST EXCAVATION RESEARCH DESIGN, PERD (Bibliographic reference). SAB3592.

AOC, 2011, ELGIN FLOOD ALLEVIATION SCHEME, MORAY:EVALUATION DATA STRUCTURE REPORT, Evaluation DSR (Bibliographic reference). SAB3576.

AOC, 2011, ELGIN FLOOD ALLEVIATION SCHEME, MORAY:WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION, WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB3577.

AOC ARCHAEOLOGY, 2012, ELGIN FLOOD ALLEVIATION SCHEME WATCHING BRIEF: WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION, WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB8769.

AOC ARCHAEOLOGY, 2013, ELGIN FLOOD ALLEVIATION SCHEME WATCHING BRIEF: DATA STRUCTURE REPORT, WB report (Bibliographic reference). SAB5518.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2014, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 14, 2013, p.130 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5483.

FARRELL, S, 2015, ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORDING AT DEANSHAUGH MILL, ELGIN, MORAY. , L1 SBS and WB report (Bibliographic reference). SAB2572.

Author unknown, n.d., THE NORTHERN SCOT, 26/08/2011 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1270.

Record last edited

Jul 10 2025 11:04AM