Ink on paper, c.1980
Survey by RCAHMS
Situated in rural Perthshire by the banks of the River Tay, Stanley Mills are an example of an early industrial enterprise built on model lines, ensuring efficiency and the well-being of the workers.
Founded in 1785, with the internationally important Bell Mill illustrated here, it was followed by two further complexes – the East Mill in 1802-13 and Mid Mill in 1823-30. As with all self-contained complexes, Stanley Mills needed ancillary buildings such as offices, workshops, gatehouse, gasworks and a planned village to provide housing for workers in this remote spot.
The Mills managed to survive the Great Depression, but man-made fibres and expensive cotton put an end to spinning in 1976 and it finally closed in 1989. Stanley Mills is currently enjoying a new lease of life as a heritage centre and the conversion of buildings into housing.