Monument record MHG53719 - Mill, leat and dam, S of Loch an t-Sabhail, Assynt

A mill was located during survey by Historic Assynt.
Situated at NC 15230 26379, it is aligned W – E beside the burn that runs out of Loch an t’Sabhail.

Where the burn leaves the loch a dam (M2) has been constructed where the water falls steeply into a narrow gully. The dam is of coursed dry stone build and water currently flows through the wall. There are no signs of an outflow opening in the wall, nor of a sluice gate or mechanism, but a possible gap upstream of the wall could indicate that a simple gate was slotted behind the dam wall to force a build up of water and a regular fast flow over the damn wall and down the gully to the mill.

Where the burn leaves the gully it widens out and bends E. In this bend the mill (M1) has been built with a leat running from the narrow gully directly to the N wall of the mill. The leat no longer carries any water and the burn has returned to its natural course, but some of the flat slabs that formed the floor of the leat and the large side blocks survive in situ, while others lie displaced nearby. The point where the leat enters the mill is currently obscured by fallen stone and vegetation, but may be largely intact. The mill walls largely survive to almost full height, though obscured by vegetation towards the W. They are 1.5m thick at the present wall head, may well be wider at the base, and enclose an internal space approximately 3 x 1.5m. The working platform is to the west (M1b) and the 1.5 x 1.5m chamber for the mill stones and mechanism ( M1c) lies at the E end. The S wall of M1c has partially collapsed where the outflow would have been. There are no signs of mill stones in the chamber but a few possible fragments lie on the loch bed just upstream of the dam. <1>