Clydesdale Mill Society
To research, excavate and protect historic, naturally powered mills in South Lanarkshire
The Clydesdale Mills Society was formed in 2007 and has since documented 165 mills in South Lanarkshire, not including farm threshing mills, of which there are several hundred.
Clydesdale’s heritage is fundamentally linked to the River Clyde. As a source of water and food and as a communications route the river, its tributaries and their valleys have served the region since Palaeolithic times. The waterways have also served as a major source of power. The hydro-electric power stations at Bonnington and Stonebyres have catered for modern power needs for almost a century but the flow of the Clyde has powered industry since at least medieval times. The construction of mills on waterways meant that our agricultural produce could be processed much more efficiently than at home and therefore contributed greatly to our well-being.