Mill of Girlsta, Girlsta

Former commercial grain mill comprising 2-storey 2-bay earlier range with kiln at S end, and 2-storey and attic granary added to S, all in one continuous range oriented N-S. Random granite rubble walls with stugged ashlar dressings, harl pointing to later range.

Girlsta mill was built by Hay & Co as a commercial mill to serve a number of farms at the time when horizontal mills were going out of use (Historic Scotland)

June 2006: Local planners bring the former mill to the attention of SCT.

September 2008: External inspection finds the building is used in part. The roof is in three sections, the most westerly in good condition, the middle missing slates and with a hole, the eastern section being missing.

March 2010: External inspection finds the mill remains disused. Of the three sections, the north is a roofless shell, the centre has a large hole in the roof and windows which are open to the elements, and the south appears to be wind and water tight. Since our previous visit, the hole in the central section has increased in size.

24 June 2014: External inspection finds the hole to one of the roofs has grown larger since the previous visit. Otherwise, the building remains in much the same condition as seen previously.

28 February 2018: Listed Building Consent for emergency repairs to ensure the area around the site is safe and to limit further physical deterioration of the mill is being sought ref: 2018/026/LBC. Supporting documents within the application note the intention of the owners to explore options for the longer term restoration and re-use of the mill once the emergency works have taken place. The southern section of the mill remains in storage use.

11 February 2022: Planning permission (2018/320/PPF) conditionally granted to erect shed to house ozone cylinders and site two ozone resting tanks adjacent to existing atlantium building including associated pipework, alter existing 2m high chain link fence to enclose new tanks and shed, realign existing private access track.

4 October 2022: External inspection finds that some restoration works have been carried out. Both roofs of the southern section and middle section have been repaired. The northern most section remains roofless and with no windows. Some window and door openings on the roofed section are covered with timber sheets. The doors on the south elevation have been restored and secured. The visible windows are generally in good condition except for a broken pane of glass on the west elevation. Rainwater goods have been installed on the roofed sections. Timber supports have been erected on the interior of the north gable. Part of building appears to still be in use as storage. Move to RESTORATION IN PROGRESS and condition moved to FAIR to reflect works.