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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Clackmannanshire => Topic started by: AncesStory on Monday 15 June 15 23:37 BST (UK)
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Does anyone know where Watermill is in the town of Clackmannan? I recently found we have ancestors who lived at Watermill near Clackmannan town - according to the 1841 census: SCT1841/466 District: 7 Folio: 6 Page: 3 Place: Address: Water Mill , Clackmannan, Females in the family worked as coal wheelers. I wondered where Watermill was and which mine they would have worked at? Thanks all.
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Go to the National Library of Scotland maps website, click on "Series maps", and select the earliest 6 inches to a mile Ordnance Survey map. You may well find it there.
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I wonder if this was the mill??
http://canmore.org.uk/site/48315/linn-mill
Kay
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Thanks for assistance - tried Perthshire, Sheet CXL (includes: Clackmannan; Culross; Saline; Tulliallan)Survey date: 1861-63 - didn't find Watermill, but did find Ladywell south of Clackmannan town, which is the "next entry" on the 1841 census. I also viewed Stobie's map of 1793 but did not see it. Linn Mill mentioned near Clackmannan is not in the ED 7 of the census.
Found a link to a mining website which had a report on 3 "houses" at Watermill, Clackmannanshire in a housing report dated 1875 - terrible living conditions! http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/412.html
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Hello AncesStory,
Searched nls. maps but not been able to pinpoint Water Mill, however, I did find one or two references which makes me think Water Mill is in the Carsebridge, Alloa area of Clackmannanshire.
Found an 1881 Census for a Coalminer named David Ramage living at 15 Watermill Row, Carsebridge, Alloa, Clackmannanshire.
A Clackmannanshire Field Studies Society Newsletter that mentions the 6th Earl of Mar's Lade which ran on an East to West axis, carrying water from Gartmorn dam to "de-water his coal pits at Holeton and Water Mill etc." (Water drove an engine which pumped water from the pits)
Gartmorn Dam, built in the 1600s by Sir John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar (1675 - 1732) was heightened in 1785 and by the 1860s water from the lade was powering 3 colliery pits and 11 water wheels at various mills. I've often walked my dog along the lade from Forest Mill to Gartmorn. A beautiful walk and an impressive piece of engineering.
www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringitem.asp?id=1342
Last but certainly not least is this find. National Records of Scotland at Sighthill, Edinburgh have an 1853 plan of of Alloa Colliery, Clackmannanshire. Ref: RHP151/2.
This plan includes Reekie Row, Nos 1 & 2 Holeton Engine, Keilarsbrae, Water Mill, Crandraw, Peacock & Old Pits. Distillery, colliers' houses, school, Keilar's Brae works, aqueduct from Gartmorn dam Upper & Lower Carsebridge, Whins & Hall House.
http://catalogue.nrscotland.gov.uk/nrsonlinecatalogue/details.aspx?reference=RHP151/2&
Unfortunately, you can't view the plan online but it can be viewed at NRS, Sighthill.
Good luck with your search,
Regards, Dod.
Added. The Lade from Forest Mill to Gartmorn Dam diverts water into the dam on the east shore of Gartmorn. The mill lade or race which drove the pits & mills is on the west shore of Gartmorn.
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Thanks Dod - I think the Watermill our mining family lived at was within a mile or so of Clackmannan itself - Watermill is noted in 1841 Census for Clackmannan (466) as being in Ennumerator District 7, folio 6, page 3. There are about 4 families living at Water Mill.
Prior to the Water Mill entries on the 1841 census for Clackmannan (SCT1841/466 District: 7/Folio: 6/ Page: 2) are entries for Arran and Kennet Pans.
Following the Water Mill entries, is a location called Craigrie and Sand Mill, Clackmannan.
It follows that in 1841, Water Mill is somewhere between Kennet Pans on the River Forth and Craigrie area of Clackmannanshire?
The family was still living in Clackmannan town in 1851 (Clackmannan; ED: 9; Page: 6; Line: 15;) - head of the household was a former distillery labourer, and his sons were coal miners, but his three remaining daughters were no longer working in the coal mines (assuming it was as a result of Mines Act of 1842). Maybe the father found work at the Kilbagie distillery?
Two of the families living at Water Mill had iron miners living in the household. I wondered if perhaps Water Mill, Clackmannan, could be situated near the Craigrie pits owned by the Devon Iron Company? Here's a link to an OS map of the area - http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/;jsessionid=670DDD20D8FDA0103707F8F34994BD0B?layer=europe&xMin=3172969.16458&yMin=3317871.68429&xMax=3175769.16458&yMax=3320671.68429
I think the map shows the area in which the family lived in the 1840s and 1850s, but Water Mill seems to be a bit of a mystery.
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I just found a newspaper article about a fatal mining accident in Clackmannan concerning a family member on April 22 1856. At Clackmannan, Near Alloa, collier Simon Cadzean was drawn over the pithead wheels by neglect of the engineman. The pit was No 1 pit, Clackmannan Coal Company at Hillend Farm owned by Mitchell and Mowbray. Link is here:
http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/344.html
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Hello AncesStory,
Ah, well, it's given me a chance to read about Gartmorn Dam and the lade on the Forest Mill side, which I've been curious about for years. A friend of mine grew up in the Forest Mill area. She thought the lade etc. had been built by Napoleonic prisoners of war, but the dates don't match up.
The following link shows an ironstone pit in the area you are looking at.
http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15&lat=56.0855&lon=-3.7409&layers=5
The ironstone pit is about halfway between Craigton and Broadcarse to the North/North East of Kennetpans.
I don't know if you are familiar with National Library of Scotland (nls) maps. I use them a lot to track down farms etc. You can play around with them, move them about, zoom in & out. Slide the blue dot on bottom left of screen for an up-to-date satellite view. Should be able to find most places in UK by typing the place name in the 'Gazetteer/NG Ref:' box. Try out different maps in the 'Select a map/map series:' drop down menu. I've got the 'Select a category:' set on Scotland but if you change that to Great Britain, that ironstone pit is very clearly marked.
All those maps and none of them show Watermill! :(
Regards, Dod.
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Thanks Dod. Appreciate your help. Will review the maps again. Maybe I can get I touch with the folks at the mining website and ask where Water Mill "houses" mentioned in a series of reports first published in the Glasgow Herald in 1875 were located? All the other pit areas mentioned in the report are in the vicinity of Clackmannan town itself - the Pottery, The Green, Westfield and Watermill or Water Mill.
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Page 22 Old Watermill Pit pic (houses in background) Alloa http://www.fnh.natsci.stir.ac.uk/journal/back_issues/vol_33/vol_33_1-142.pdf
Also note Clackmannan Town Hall has a room called Watermill Room.
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The Clackmannanshire Field Studies Society has been undertaking research into the Colliery Waggonways of Clackmannanshire. When I saw your query I went back over our notes. We had wrongly identified the site of the Watermill Pit. As part of a research project we interviewed an old miner who stated that the older miners always referred to the Craigrie pit as the “Watermill pit”. Unfortunately we missed this information in identifying this pit for our maps - I will correct this. There were several small hamlets associated with mines in the area to the west of Clackmannan Village. In the 1881 Census they are given in the order - Speedwell, Westfield, Craigrie, Watermill, Heatherhouse and Powside. This is likely to be the route that the ennumerator took when recording the returns. Looking at the OS first edition six inch map this suggests that Watermill lay between Craigrie and Heatherhouse. See link - http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15&lat=56.1049&lon=-3.7602&layers=5
The 1861 25 inch OS map shows a small tenement (row) of six one room dwellings at the site of the Craigrie pit. http://maps.nls.uk/view/74478623. NS9043791502. This is almost certainly the site of Watermill hamlet. You can e-mail us at cfss2estates@btopenworld.com for more information.
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Thank you cfss2estates, so Watermill pit, Clackmannan is not north of Craigrie pit as on this illustration, (Two Estates Project Clackmannanshire Field Studies Society in partnership with The Inner Forth Landscape Initiative: Clackmannanshire Colliery Waggonways) but south of Craigrie - between Craigrie and Heatherhouse?
Incorrect location of Watermill Pit?
http://www.cfss.org.uk/publications/Waggonways_Project_Report_150912_final_for_web.pdf
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The small settlement of "Watermill" as recorded on the census returns for 1841-91 lies immediately south of the shaft of the Craigrie or Watermill Pit. See at National Library of Scotland map at:-http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17&lat=56.1038&lon=-3.7637&layers=5 and the larger scale map map at:- http://maps.nls.uk/view/74478623
This larger scale map shows the housing clearly and the detail ties up with the information in the census returns.