Scottish Towns - Auchterarder - Local History (weaving)

Weaving in Auchterarder

Cottage weaving was widespread throughout Perthshire. In the western area weavers were supplied by local agents with material from Glasgow manufacturers. In the eastern area the cottage industry was mainly cotton, the weavers being supplied with material from Dundee. At one time flax was grown locally, but by the end of the 19th century it was imported from the Baltic countries. At the same time flax was being displaced, to some extent, by jute. The sheep rearing areas of the Highlands provided the raw material for the manufacture of woollen cloth.

The most important area for cotton working in Perthshire was Stanley, the most northernly cotton mill in Britain. The Stanley Mills, having been associated in turn with Glasgow and Lancashire, were included in the formation of Jute Industries (Dundee) Ltd.
Until recently, the other important cotton weaving centre was James Findlay's mill at Deanston, the village having been dependent on this mill for its livelihood for over 150 years. The Deanston mill closed in 1965.
Perthshire was one of the main areas in Scotland for bleaching and dyeing, due in part to an abundance of pure, soft water. During the 19th century the bleachfields were closely associated with the textile industries.

In the 19th century Auchterarder and Aberthuthven were chiefly occupied by hand-loom weavers. These depended on middle-men who supplied the yarn to the weavers and bought the finished cloth to sell in Glasgow. In 1840 William Hally started with a cart, buying the yarn in Glasgow and bringing it to the hand weavers of Auchterarder. He would return to Glasgow with the woven cloth where it was sold. Ten years later William established a business in Boreland Park and by 1863 he opened the Castleton Mill. In 1869 the firm of Hally & Co., which emerged from this, introduced 60 power-looms; in 1874 the same firm had the Dollerie Mill in Crieff; in 1880 all three mills were incorporated at Ruthvenvale. In 1883 there were 453 looms with 300 workers at this mill. Cloth was exported to Australia, India, China and New Zealand, but not in Europe, while there was also a vigorous home trade. Seventy per cent of the raw material was imported from Belgium and 70 per cent of the finished acticle exported.

In the inter-war years there was here, as in other mills throughout the country, a great slump in trade. Despite modernisation carried out after the war, all weaving ceased in this mill at the end of 1956.
In 1929 however, a knitwear business, by the name of Gleneagles Knitwear, started and is now the only activity on the premises with over 80% of the products being exported.

The firm of Robert White & Co experienced similar development. This business began in the 1840s with hand looms in individual houses. The first factory was situated off Auchterarder High Street in what is now known as Kinnoull Place. It comprised two rows of buildings, one containing dwelling houses with hand looms, the other housing hand looms only. The present building, Glenruthven Mills, was built about 1874. London was the main customer, although exports went to such places as the United States, Italy and Japan.