Dalgarven mill museum of country life and costume

The Costume Collection We have what is acknowledged as one of Scotland’s finest Costume collections.

Over two thousand pieces of Dress and Textiles dating from 1775 to the present day are beautifully displayed in annual exhibitions. Below are some examples of recent exhibitions, lingerie from the Twenties, frocks and furs from the Forties, and crinolines from the Victorians .

The Coffee Room is open to all visitors to the site. It serves light lunches, home made soups, delicious home baking and very very good coffee.

We are pleased to welcome groups and coaches, but pre-booking for groups is essential. 01294 552448

Byre Antiques have an ever changing stock of high quality furniture and a wide selection of collectables including Beswick and Moorcroft.

Restoration is a speciality, estimates freely given and all scales of project undertaken

Dalgarven Mill Museum of Country Life and Costume KILWINNING, KA 13 6 PL

We are open all year, but closed on Mondays Easter to October Tues-Saturday 10.00 -17.00 Sunday 11.00 -17.00 From October to Easter the times remain the same, except we close at 16.00 on weekdays

How to find us: From Ayr and the South stay on the A78 to the Sharphill Roundabout, take the B 714 road to Dalry, turn right on the A737, we are two miles down this road towards Kilwinning. From Glasgow take junction 28a past the Airport and follow the A737 through Beith and Dalry towards Kilwinning.

From Largs and the Coast follow the A78 to the Sharphill Roundabout, take the B 714 to Dalry and then turn right onto the A737, we are two miles towards Kilwinning.

with ' The Miller’s Kitchen ' Coffee Room and Byre Antiques 01294 552448

Or use the interactive map on the Website

www dalgarvenmill. org. uk

Leaflet sponsored by

admin @ dalgarvenmill. org. uk Scottish Charity 022937

Dalgarven Mill Museum of Country Life and Costume The Dalgarven Mills

Country Life Collection

Grain Mill

As an industrial architectural gem in deepest rural Ayrshire, you will find the site lovely, absorbing, and different, why not make it an unmissable experience on your visit to Ayrshire. Birds and wildflowers abound on our delightful riverside walk, and all visitors can enjoy the home baking and freshly made light meals in our Coffee Room

Scotland once thrived on ' hard work, The three floors of this old building are illuminated by the lives of the past rural community, farmers, blacksmiths, joiners, wheelwrights, saddlers, dairymen, cheese makers, road menders and others. Visit their homes , see their clothes and furniture, and other elements of their daily lives.

At one time the mill provided eighty percent of all the food we ate.

Porridge, brose and oatcakes being literally the stuff of life.

Come and enjoy the machinery, the only local working waterwheel, and learn to appreciate the skills of the millers and the role that they and their produce played in Scottish rural and urban history.

There have been two mills here since 1614 but the original mill dates back to Kilwinning Abbey in 1203. Both of these mills were powered by the water of the River Garnock, as is the present mill. After a fire in 1869, the present very large mill and granaries were built ,and the weir, lades and sluices, improved to provide more power.

The courtyard that the visitor now enters was created by the addition of a miller’s house, stables, byres and barns..

The Victorian grain mill has also been restored and the water wheel is again operational, and turns daily in summer, river conditions permitting. The riverside walk and the new view point allow visitors to enjoy the beauty of this unique corner of Ayrshire at their leisure.

The last hundred years have seen a revolution in rural life, the large number of people who depended on casual work on the land for their income, and the craftsmen who serviced the farms and villages, have also disappeared.

Their story is told on three floors in what has recently been described as " a museum of rural life that knocks all others into a cocked hat ." Attractive and informative displays fhave been fitted into the character filled spaces of both the historic listed buildings and our newly built display area Visitors are assured of a warm welcome, an interesting experience, and good food and in this popular four star visitor attraction.

The grain, wheat ,oats,and barley comes to the Mill from the farm , and by the power of the waterwheel it is hoisted to the top floor or garret, and is then emptied into the main hoppers. From there it is fed down through the mill stones which make it into flour or oatmeal, after grinding, elevators carry the flour back to the top floor from where it down through the graders to be made into fine , medium or coarse flour or oatmeal as required, it is then put into sacks for delivery back to the customer. The process has changed little since the introduction of the water wheel at the beginning of the fifteenth century, and now stone ground flour is enjoying a renaissance.

godliness and honest poverty.'