The Kilncleuch mill was a relatively late addition to the Langholm woollen manufacturing industry, built in 1895 by James Scott (1864-1941), grandson of James Scott, founder of Waverley mill.

His father John, a partner in Waverley mill, had died the year before. James’s rival operation was constructed next to his late father’s business (see the map below) and was partly financed by two aunts, apparently causing some family tensions.

There is a Kilncleuch Burn (stream) on an overlooking hill nearby, from which the name was probably taken (cleuch meaning a steep valley or ravine), via the name of James’s residence, Kilncleuch House, near the burn (see bottom right of the map above).

Kilncleuch mill failed in 1910 and was bought by a Huddersfield company, C H & F Firth. In 1915 the tenant operator was George Sharpe. The company was sold in 1917 and renamed Glenshee Mill, then again in 1919 and renamed Glenesk Mill, owned by Robert Neill and his son John.

The Neill company was bought in 1965 by Illingworth Morris, a textile conglomerate and was closed in 1998. The mill was replaced by a Co-operative shop in 2000.

James Scott was a captain in the King’s Own Scottish Borderers and by the time of the war was political secretary to Samuel Samuel, Conservative Member of Parliament for Wandsworth. Two of James’s three sons were killed in the war:

• John (1894-1914): died of wounds on an ambulance train in France, aged 21.
• James (‘Mac’) (1896-1915): machine gun officer; killed in action in the Battle of Loos, aged 19 (see 29th September in the Diary).

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