Letham Mill

The Lands of Letham were part of the great barony of Abbotskerse.  It formed a substantial estate in its own right and being separate from the main holdings of the barony it is probable that it had a mill from an early date.    Following the Reformation in the sixteenth century the lands reverted to the Crown and were sold.  An instrument of Sasine in 1569 under the hand of Nicholas Thownis, Clerk of St Andrew’s diocese, notary public, provides the first mention of a mill: “of the lands of Lethame, with mill, mill lands, multures, and sucken thereof” (Reid Notes).  It was made over to Patrick Crechtoun of Lugtoun, his heirs and assignees.

Letham changed hands several times and in 1615 was acquired by James Baillie.  His son died before him and in 1634 it came into the possession of his niece and her husband, Lieutenant-General William Baillie, and the mill is mentioned in the sasine of that date.  This is the last record of the mill traced by John Reid and unfortunately it does not appear on either the Pont map of the 1580s or that of William Roy in 1755.  Given the history of the ownership of the estate after 1634 it is probable that the mill did not continue long after that.  The Lands of Letham are relatively flat and there are few water courses.  The Muir Dyke was an artificial water channel which started in this area but would not have had either the flow or the quantity required for a mill.  So, it was probably fed by the Pow Burn, which also fed Airth Mill, and an unnamed tributary just to the west of Abbeytown Bridge.

National Grid Reference

Letham Mill

NS 893 865

G.B. Bailey 2022