Old Spinning Mill, Deanston Mills, Deanston, Whisky distillery and industrial complex in Deanston, Scotland
The Old Spinning Mill, also known as Deanston Mills, is a Category A listed industrial complex in Deanston, Scotland, operating today as a whisky distillery and visitor attraction. The complex sits on the south bank of the River Teith and is made up of large stone buildings, including former spinning and weaving sheds, connected by a long mill lade that once carried water from the river.
The mill was built in 1785 by the Buchanan brothers to a design by Richard Arkwright, using water from the River Teith to power the machinery for cotton spinning and weaving. A fire in the 1820s led to a larger rebuilding of the site, and after over a century of textile production, the factory closed in 1965 and was converted into a whisky distillery the following year.
The site is best known today as a working distillery, and visitors can walk through the old weaving sheds now used to age whisky. The rows of stone workers' houses along a single straight street give a clear sense of what life in a planned industrial village once looked like.
The site sits on the edge of the small village of Deanston, about a mile (1.5 km) west of Doune, and is most easily reached by car. Distillery tours are available, and visitors can also walk around the surrounding village to see the rows of original workers' houses.
In 1786, the mill produced its own coins and paper money for workers to use, as there was a shortage of currency in the region at the time. The vaults beneath the site are now used to age whisky from both Deanston and Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull.
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