Angus HER - NO75NW0084 - CHAPEL WORKS, MONTROSE

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Main Details

Primary ReferenceNO75NW0084
NameCHAPEL WORKS, MONTROSE
NRHE Card No.NO75NW84
NRHE Numlink 72775
HES SM No. NULL
HES LB No. 38212
Site Form Standing Structure
Site Condition Complete 2
Details Former flax mill, now mostly converted for residential use, although some sections have been removed and others are now disused. It was founded in 1790 as a linen and rope works (shown on the J Wood Town Plan (1822) owned by Mr Fraser), with the spinning mill founded in 1828. The first spinning mills were built in 1828 and 1833, the latter to a design by Umpherston and Kerr (of the Douglas Foundry, Dundee). There have been various alterations to the mill complex throughout the 19th century by Thomson Bros and Company (of the Douglas Foundry) and other in-house architects/engineers. They were the largest mills in Angus, and only three mills in Dundee has more spindles. It is shown on the 1st edition OS map as an irregular-plan flax mill, named 'Chapel Mill', with a rope works to the south and a pond and additional rectangular and L-plan buildings to the east. On the 2nd edition OS map the rope works building has been greatly extended to a large L-plan range, covering most of the southern and western extents of the complex. The full complex is now named 'Chapel Works', and is depicted as a flax mill. There is an additional L-plan range to the east, the pond has been extended and there are some alterations to the rectangular and L-plan buildings. Current maps show further alterations. Some of the buildings and the pond have been removed, and replaced by modern buildings. The mill closed in 1967, becoming the bond of George Morton and Sons, whisky and rum blenders and bottlers from 1973 to 1989. The flax warehouse of 1828 was originally a blind single-storey building, raised to two-storey in circa 1850-65. The single-storey section features a blocked segmental-arched pend entrance, rebuilt in circa 1850. Adjacent to the south of the warehouse is a three-storey hackling block that was built in two phases in circa 1833 and 1845. It has 22 bays, with a pend and a timber chute housing an Archimedes Screw, linking it to the east mill. The East mill has a datestone of 1833, and is a three-storey and attic, three by eight bay fireproof spinning mill, extended by five bays to the west in 1840 and heightened in 1856. It features an ornamental cast-iron stair to a first-floor gabled entrance, the stair replacing an original stair tower. Extending from the east of the mill is an 1833 engine room, altered to L-plan in 1880-90. There is also a cylindrical brick chimney stack on a square rubble base, a boiler room with a louvred ridge ventilator to the south, and a double-beam engine house that was designed to be unroofed. At the same height at the three-storey hackling block, but two-storey, is a fortress-like warehouse and hackling block over a coal yard, which features a coped parapet and a Romanesque blind arcade. The front office building was built in 1866-7 by Thomson Bros and Company as a single-storey and attic, rubble-built spinning mill, however it was later altered to give a grander arched entrance. There was a west mill, which was demolished in 1995. There have been two fires at the site, in May 1991 and June 1994. In the aftermath of these fires, much of the remaining structures were cleared away and the site redeveloped although the original external walls were kept as the frontages of some of the housing that was built. An archaeological evaluation was carried out in 2000 (see NO75NW0149). A standing building survey of the building fronting St Peter's Place was carried out by Alder Archaeology in April 2020 prior to conversion. The structure, more recently used as a whisky bond, had been empty since 1989 and was in poor condition limiting access to much of the interior. The building is rectangular in plan, enclosed by stone walls to north and south, and with former mill buildings (now converted to housing) on the east side. It is single storey, constructed of coursed rubble with ashlar quoins and window casings and a grey slate roof, and with A large arched entrance in the centre led to a short pend. The west front has eight windows to north and south of the entrance, with cornices above creating a neo-classical appearance. Above the entrance is a datestone, 1795. Two chimneys on the east front, that to the south serving the boiler room, that to the north possibly indicating an earlier furnace in this part of the building which had latterly been used for offices. Much of the interior had been converted to modern office space with few original features visible.
Last Update25/01/2024
Updated Bycpalmer
Compiler 
Date of Compilation 

Google Map for NO75NW0084

National Grid Reference: NO 7196 5770



Event Details

Event DateEvent TypeOASIS ID
2020 Building Recording

Excavations and Surveys


Artefact and Ecofact

Ecofact

Samples
Palynology
Ecofact Notes

Monument Types

Monument Type 1Monument Type 2Monument Type 3OrderProbability
CHIMNEYS  V100
WORKSROPESITE OFC100
WORKSLINEN D100
PONDSMILLSITE OFB100
PENDS BLOCKEDE100
WAREHOUSES  F100
DATESTONES  G100
MILLS SPINNINGH100
STAIRCASESCAST-IRONORNAMENTALI100
TOWERSSTAIRSITE OFJ100
ENGINE-ROOMS  K100
ENTRANCES GABLEDL100
STACKSBRICK M100
ROOMSBOILER N100
VENTILATORSRIDGELOUVREDO100
ENGINE-HOUSES  P100
PARAPETS COPEDQ100
ARCADES BLINDR100
OFFICES  S100
ENTRANCES ARCHEDT100
MILLS SITE OFU100
MILLSFLAXREMAINS OFA100
ROPERIES SITE OFW100