File:Remains of charcoal mill beside the River Carron - geograph.org.uk - 1769984.jpg

English: Remains of charcoal mill beside the River Carron. The ruins cannot be seen very clearly from here, but some traces are visible (see the end of this item for an index to some much closer views of the various buildings).

The remains are located in an area of squelchy ground; they are also in poor condition, with trees growing in and around them.

They stand not far from the point where the Garvald Burn flows into the River Carron: 1769985. A stone footbridge (1769986) carries a path which led to these buildings. The bridge and the old buildings are both shown on the first-edition OS map (1865).

On that map, the buildings which appear as ruins in this photo are labelled "char mill", with Dyewood Mill located just to the north-west, and Garvald directly to the west. The 1899 map collectively labels the mill buildings "Garvald Mills"; the equivalent 1922 map shows them to be disused.

The New Statistical Account (Vol 8, 1845) provides further details: "The mills on the River Carron, in the parish of Denny, have been already stated to be eleven. The uppermost are Garvald Mills. There are two of them, and both are employed in grinding charcoal for moulders, &c. Each mill has a miller at 12s. per week of wages, and a man, horse, and cart, to bring charcoal to the mills, and to carry the ground produce to the moulders. The carters have each 12s. per week" [here, "moulders" refers to the moulds used to create metal castings in foundries].

A lade was created, from the River Carron, to serve the buildings of this mill. Some of the ruined building are illustrated separately, in closer views taken from that side of the river (these photographs are not intended to be comprehensive, but simply show a few representative features):

● For the building which can be seen, indistinctly, in the present photo, see https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1831069 and https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1831043 (these photographs show the remains of two windows at one end of the building, and the remains of the water channel at the other end).

● Another building, located to the NNW of the previous one: see https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1830952

● A further building, which is located right beside the river: see https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1831120 (a smaller channel drawn from the lade is also mentioned there).

● A pair of posts, which would have supported a gate on a small bridge that led over the lade: see https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1830916