The archaeology of whin mills in post-medieval north-east Scotland

Abstract

Whin mills were horse-powered machines used extensively in north-east Scotland in the 18th and 19th centuries to crush gorse for animal fodder. Although the few that remain form an important tangible legacy of improvement agriculture that sought to adapt, exploit and capitalise on an abundant resource, they are commonly overlooked within the mostly top-down and estate-level-dominated historical literature of the improvement period. This paper presents a programme of desk-based and field investigation to determine the extent of whin mill preservation in north-east Scotland with a view to building on Ritchie’s 1925 inventory of whin mills. We report 54 records of whin mills including 17 sites with whin mill remains but only three with earth-fast courses. As more than obscure technological curiosities, we situate the innovation of whin mills within the social and economic history of the improvement period. Whin mills were not only used by the poorer class of farmers with access to gorse on rough ground, they were also taken up by farmers across the social spectrum. Unconstrained by environmental parameters, whin mills helped to increase the supply of fodder allowing for larger herds suitable for a growing beef market.