Deanston

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Deanston is a village in the district of Stirling, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Teith, formerly of West Perthshire. It is a part of the parish of Kilmadock.

Gas Lighting was installed in 1913, the first such installation, outside of London in the UK

[edit] Etymology

The name comes from Walter Drummond, Dean of Dunblane in 1500, originally called Deans Town.

[edit] Deanston mill

Deanston Cotton Mill was built by the Buchanan brothers of Carston, near Manchester, in 1785, and utilised the River Teith to power the mill. In 1808 James Finlay & Co bought the mill and developed it into the industrial leader of its time, which included the construction of a 1500 yard long Lade.

James Smith, a manager of the mill, was a successful entrepreneur and inventor. He built unusually designed accommodation over four levels for his workforce, called the divisions, which was new in its day. At its peak, the mill had over 1000 workers and had the largest waterwheel in Europe, Hercules.

The cotton mill closed in 1965. On the site, the Deanston Distillery opened in 1966 and is now owned by Burns Stewart, where it produces several Megawatts for the National Grid (2007).