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Knockando Wool Mill, Moray

Grade A-listed Knockando wool mill is unique in being the most complete working district mill in the UK and a rare example of this size in Europe. The mill, which has been in operation for 250 years, began life as a single-storey building but in the mid-19th century a further two-storey carding and spinning mill was added to form an L-shape.

Knockando Wool Mill

Background

Listing: Grade A
Date of building: Built Circa 1784

Web: www.knockandowoolmill.org.uk [http://www.knockandowoolmill.org.uk]

The mill enjoyed a good level of prosperity over the years producing blankets, tweeds and knitting wools, but it was the outbreak of the First World War that saw trade boom when the Ministry Of Defence contracted them to make blankets. Business gradually declined thereafter and the croft cottage was abandoned in the 1920s with the mill shop closing in 1975.

Today there exists a cluster of collapsing tin roof buildings, a cast iron water wheel which has lost its paddles, a croft cottage and a Victorian farmhouse. The present owner of the mill still makes the tweeds for the estate workers of the local Knockando Estate, though activity at the mill is expected to cease entirely upon the owner's retirement. A grant has recently been received enabling a project planning process to begin.

Regional Information

Knockando in Moray has probably been an area of human activity from Pictish times. The stretch of water from Knockando to Aberlour is widely regarded as being one of the most picturesque on the River Spey. But while important today as a draw for tourists and white water enthusiasts, the proximity of the Spey has been of more local importance as a driving force for the wool mill and also for its use since 1898 by the world famous Knockando distillery. The parish is also notable as the home of the Grant brothers whom inspired the Cheeryble brother in Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby.

Knockando Wool Mill, Moray

Background

Regional Information

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