Stanley Mills, Perthshire
Mill Road, Stanley, Perthshire, PH1 4QE.
Stanley Mills, north of Perth, produced textiles from 1787 to 1989. They have been tastefully restored for a variety of uses, including an excellent museum.
Cotton production was established here by a group of Perth merchants, with technical and financial support from Richard Arkwright. The site was chosen to take advantage of water power available from the River Tay.
Frank Stewart Sandeman took over in 1876. He replaced the waterwheels with turbines, and started production of cotton belting, used to drive machinery.
During the First and Second World Wars, the mills produced webbing for the armed forces. In 1916 Stanley Mills began producing an ‘endless’ thin cotton belt, popular with producers of cigarettes. This product helped Stanley Mills to survive the Depression of the 1920s and 1930s.
By the late 1960s, the mills were mainly producing artificial fibres.
The mills closed in 1989.
The above brief history is condensed from information on the Museum Website.