Shortly after 1803 the mill at Lower Garvald turned to the production of paper. William Smail, paper maker in Denny, owned Garvald Mill in 1806 and by 1822 it had passed to Thomas Burns and John Muirhead, at which time it was damaged by fire. When Burns died in 1826 Muirhead was joined in the venture by Rev John Burns of Morningside and Garvald. Before long Burns was on his own and seems to have rebuilt the weir of Lower Garvald Mill. In 1835 he was contemplating extending the lade from the paper mill along the bank of the river in order to erect a barley mill there (Forbes Papers 1220/21).
It was Rev John Burns who advertised the mill for sale in 1836. In the following year it was still being operated as a paper mill by Alexander Jack but by 1841 it had reverted back to a charcoal mill.
Sites and Monuments Record
| Lower Garvald Mill | SMR 485 | (NS 7855 8341) |
Falkirk Local History Society 