SMR 86 / NS 8745 7460
The remains of this flax kiln may be seen at Easter Jaw from the road between Slamannan and Shieldhill. It is set into the natural hill slope and faces north (the hill was probably a shilling hill). The main structure is made of local whinstone bonded with a hard white mortar. It has a recessed tapering brick arch at the mouth suggesting that it has been repaired in the late 19th century.
The attribution is that shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map which was surveyed in 1860 but only published in 1896. The second edition was surveyed in 1896 and published the following year, this time the structure was captioned “old Flaxkiln,” suggesting that it had gone out of use in the interval.
Such kilns were used for drying flax straw after retting and prior to processing. Retting or lint ponds are known at some distance to the north and south of the site, but the Ordnance Survey does not show any in the immediate vicinity of Easter Jaw. It is therefore possible that the old Elrig Mill which lay adjacent to the kiln was converted into a lint mill in the late 18th century and that its pond was used for retting. It is known that the mill had been disused for some time. At Ballenbreich Mill at Avonbridge the lint pond was fed by water in the mill lade after passing through the mill. Elrig Mill was subsequently subsumed into the neighbouring Easter Jaw Mill which became a distillery. It is therefore possible that the old flax kiln was latterly used as a drying kiln for the malt.
Bibliography
| Bailey, G.B. | 1992 | ‘Lime and Limekilns in the Falkirk District.’ Calatria 3, 63-88. (p.82) |
Falkirk Local History Society 