In 1779 there were two mills at Duntiblae, a corn mill, where locals could take their corn for milling, and a lint mill further downstream, powered by a water wheel, for ‘scutching’ flax – that is separating the fibre from the woody part of the stalks of flax. Weaving was a very important part of Kirkintilloch’s industry, but as weaving in the town moved from linen to cotton, the flax markets in the Eastside of the own went in to decline.

Duntiblae mill was damaged by fire in the 19th Century and the building was converted to become Hill’s shovel works, a forge where shovels and spades were made.

According to local tradition, there were lint holes in the moss behind Waterside, which were used for steeping flax in the stagnant water to loosen the fibres of the flax from the stalk.

Photograph by Edward Z Smith

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