An ambitious £4.6 million project to breathe new life into the Stanley Mills complex, on the banks of the River Tay, is now complete.
The category A listed Bell Mill and Mid Mill have been converted into a new visitor attraction and education centre that examine the history of the people, products and power of the mills. The new development features displays, interactives, exhibits and video footage that unravel an important part of Scotland’s industrial heritage.
Peter Bromley, Director of Properties in Care at Historic Scotland, said;
“Historic Scotland has been working on the Stanley Mills project since the mills came into our care in 1995: there are so many people that have contributed to the development and it’s great to see the visitor attraction now opening to the public. We believe that the visitor centre, and its facilities, will put the mills back at the heart of the community.”
The £4.6 million phase of work is part of a much larger regeneration project at Stanley which was made possible by contributions from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Gannochy Trust and Scottish Enterprise Tayside. The Heritage Lottery Fund donation assisted with the purchase of the site, feasibility studies, site services and landscaping, restoration of the lades and conservation of the Mill buildings. The Gannochy Trust and Scottish Enterprise contributions was used for lade restoration and landscaping works respectively.
The Stanley Mills project has involved:
- External conservation of Arkwright’s Bell Mill. This started in 1996, helped by a £1.4 million Heritage Lottery Grant to meet part of the £2.2 million cost. In 1998 the bell was restored to the tower to mark the completion of this stage of work.
- Repairing the fire damaged North Range.
- Redevelopment of the East Mill and the Mid Mill into flats and townhouses by the Phoenix Trust.
- Repairing the mill lades. This was made possible through grants from the Gannochy Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund.
- In May 1998, a further grant of £5.1 million was awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop public access to the site and provide visitor facilities.
