Going Against the Grain
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RESTORATION GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN Scotland’s listed buildings have often been seen as no-go zones for ambitious restoration projects, but the sensitive salvaging of a B-listed mill complex in the Orkney Islands has proved that preservation and innovation can work together with impressive results TEXT BY KIRSTY BURRELL t is not difficult to imagine Trenabie Mill in its heyday. The building has been Irestored with such care that it retains all its original character. And when I visited the site on Westray in Orkney, a neighbour’s vivid memories completed the picture – a bustling scene with horsedrawn carts backing into the wide doorway and the unrelenting noise of sheaves being threshed to separate grain from chaff, the sacks of grain hoisted to the top of the mill to be dried and the chaff swept through to fuel the kiln fire. Water running down from the Loch of Burness in the hills above drove the overshot mill wheel, which in turn powered two sets of grinding stones. The mill was built in 1897 for David Balfour, the fifth Laird of Trenabie. The islanders brought their oats and bere (barley) here to be ground into flour for porridge, bannocks and animal fodder. By the 1960s, however, the mill was no longer a viable operation; the building was abandoned, and the machinery sold and shipped off to Canada. Gradually the old buildings deteriorated; the walls became unsteady, slates blew off in the winter gales and the mill’s roof eventually collapsed. The place was in this sorry state of repair when Sandy and William McEwan first ABOVE They may seem like before and after encountered it. Ten years ago the couple were farming and bringing up their children shots,but look again – the main photo shows on South Ronaldsay, where they lived in a house with a windswept garden and how the mill has maintained its original wonderful views of the stormy waters of the Pentland Firth. ៑ character 63 RESTORATION William taught part-time on the island of Westray, where he became aware of the beautiful but neglected old mill in the east-coast village of Pierowall. On a visit to Kirkwall, Sandy and William noticed in an estate agent’s window that Trenabie Mill was for sale. They had just returned from Shapinsay Castle, where fruit trees flourish in the high-walled garden, sheltered from Orkney’s notorious winds. This set Sandy’s mind working, and they set off to view the mill. The building was boarded up but they clambered around in the dusty darkness. Gingerly ascending the rickety timber stair to the top floor, they pushed open “Last year the Trenabie Mill project won a Civic Trust Award; the Trust cited the complex as ‘a model of good conservation practice’.” the heavy metal door leading to the roofless space following week. They put to him their ideas for the where the kiln and drying floor had been. Sandy had project. The most important of these was a glass a moment of revelation: “Green Card!” she exclaimed. roof above the kiln area, which would allow light to Puzzled? The Green Card in question is a film – a flood down through the building to the brick-arched romantic comedy starring Andie MacDowell and ground floor below, where the kiln fire had been. The Gerard Dépardieu – in which MacDowell’s character west-facing elevation towards the village, with only a finds a flat with an abandoned roof garden, which she few small windows, could thus remain unaltered. rescues. Sandy’s vision was of passionflowers, Graham was anxious that the building should retain bougainvillea and figs thriving in the Orkney climate. its utilitarian dignity, and felt this was a good solution. ABOVE (clockwise It took the couple a year to acquire the site, including The gargantuan task of bringing the mill back to life from left) The mill a smaller, older ruined mill and the old kilnman’s began. Bulldozers were brought in to undertake and the kilnman’s cottage, which was being used as a garage. The local major earthworks: the spot where the peaceful mill cottage have been planning department explained that, as the mill stream, flanked by irises and monkshood, trickles fully restored; the buildings were listed at category B, they would need down a series of stone-flagged steps to a tranquil lily exotic roof garden; consent from Historic Scotland for any alterations. pond was at that time a scene of muddy turmoil. light reaches every Fortunately, Graham Reed, the historic buildings The McEwans engaged architect May Banks of PJ corner of the mill inspector for the area, was due to visit Orkney the Finnigan - who had previous conservation experience៑ 64 RESTORATION ABOVE AND RIGHT Sunshine floods the roof garden; warm air is piped from here throughout the house for heating working for the National Trust for Scotland – to draw up plans for the buildings. Work was carried out by local contractors with the help of family and friends, including a young fisherman who came for a week and stayed until the completion of the project, carrying out the laborious task of lime-pointing the stone walls. The little kilnman’s cottage was restored, initially to provide accommodation for those working on the project, and latterly to be rented as a holiday cottage. Painstakingly, the mill was restored, creating a com- fortable family home while retaining as much of the original fabric as possible. The pièce de résistance is the Green Card space, where, with spectacular views of the hills, the bay, and the island of Papa Westray, one can relax among the figs, bougainvillea and geraniums that are grown hydroponically on a gridded metal floor under the expansive glass roof. The original builders of the mill used fragments of old ships’ keels for all the internal lintels. William and Last year the Trenabie Mill project won a Civic Trust Sandy have remained faithful to their spirit, retaining Award; the Trust cited the finished complex as “a all the existing doors and windows, using recycled model of good conservation practice: in conservation materials, reclaiming building stone, stone flags and terms, where change has secured the buildings’ roof slates locally, and using 19th-century timber future, and in environmental terms”. wherever possible. In a nod to modernity, summer Having thus “secured the buildings’ future”, Sandy heating is by solar energy – a fan takes air from under and William have taken on another project. They’re in the glass roof (delicately perfumed by the flowers the process of restoring an abandoned manse with a growing there) via a hidden duct down to the ground windswept garden and wonderful views of the stormy floor. Heating pipes have been installed under the stone waters of the Pentland Firth. Sounds familiar? In the flags and a restored water wheel will drive a generator meantime, both Trenabie Mill and the little kilnman’s to provide the mill with heat in the winter. The garden cottage at Pierowall are available for holiday lets. ᔢ around the mill is a haven for local wildlife – eels and Contact Sandy McEwan, Trenabie Mill, Westray, trout swim in the millpond, attracting hungry otters. Orkney. Tel: 01857 677 447, www.millwestray.com PHOTOGRAPHS: GUNNIE MOBERG, KIRSTY BURRELL 466.