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MHG63189 - Mill - 'Milltown', Culag (Lochinver)

Summary

Possible site of the original mill at Lochinver (Culag).

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

Possible site of the original mill at Lochinver (Culag).

(Area centred NC 0920 2200) Eight buildings shown and named 'Mill Town' in 1774-5; 'Mill' shown (J Home 1774-5). <1>

The saw mill (NC02SE 21) is still worked but now electrically operated, the wheel having been removed. No evidence of 'Mill Town' (the name is not known locally) was seen; the area lies within the grounds of 'Culag' Hotel and has been generally parked and planted.
Visited by OS (F R H) 12 May 1962.

No change except that the mill (NC02SE 21) is no longer in operation. The former mill wheel was of the vertical type.
Visited by OS (J B) 11 August 1980.

There has been confusion with the site of the mill as shown on J Home's 1774-5 estate map. It was clearly originally thought to be on the same site as the mill known subsequently to the southeast (see MHG19771). However, Home clearly shows the mill to have been originally sited on the west side of the river c.85m to the northwest. He shows that the township of 'Milltown' clustered around the site of the mill and along the coast for a short distance to the northwest. The mill is shown lying at right angles to the river. Given this position at the southern end of the only level ground at this location, this would imply that there may not have been enough open ground for a lade to have run from somewhere upstream and that the mill wheel was turned directly by the river itself. The township is shown with an area of fields which would equate to the area subsequently occupied by the Lochinver Fishing Station (see MHG12227), itself replaced by Lochinver House (see MHG12231) and what is now the Culag Hotel and its former rear walled gardens as well as the level strip of ground that now forms a playing field to its southeast. The mill and township were likely removed to make way for the construction of the Lochinver Fishing Station, a new bridge and an access road in c.1775. A new mill was subsequently built on the eastern side of the river to the southeast although the township itself does not appear to have been re-established around it. It is not entirely clear where the original mill was located, however, this is a marked depression in the ground approaching the river bank just to the east of the modern southern entrance to the playing field and c.20m to the north of Inverbridge Cottage. [IS-L 18/03/2024]

See MHG19771 for the later mill.

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NC 0940 2212 (22m by 23m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NC02SE
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	ASSYNT

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