In 1723 Johnston of Kirkland provided an account of Airth in which he says:
“Here is a dock for building of ships, a saw miln, which goes by wind of a figure never before seen in Scotland invented by the ship builder himself.”
At the time shipbuilding at Airth was at its peak but declined as a result of Jacobite activity in 1746 and due to subsequent land reclamation. The shipbuilding yard lay in the area of the present park at the Wilderness.
For many years this part of the Laigh Town was known as “Windmill Head.” Long after the disappearance of the mill this name gave way to that of “the Blue Stone” from a large stone in the vicinity, also now gone (Stirling Observer 30 April 1857, 3).
Sites & Monuments Record
| Airth Dock Windmill | SMR 921 | NS 899 878 |
Falkirk Local History Society 