1686
Windmill construction undertaken
Robert Mylne of Balfargie undertook to build a windmill at Leith after 1686.
Site overview
Edinburgh, Leith, 1-2 The Shore, Leith Signal Tower began as a tower windmill at the corner of Tower Street and The Shore. Robert Mylne undertook to build the windmill after 1686. By the end of the eighteenth century it had ceased to work as a windmill and was later altered as a signal tower.
Map
Map markers and directions links are provided for location reference only and do not indicate public access or permission to enter a site.
No site photograph is currently available. Images will be added as field visits are carried out.
History
Edinburgh, Leith, 1-2 The Shore, Leith Signal Tower is a former tower windmill at the historic harbour area of Leith. The site is also known as Mylne's Mill and Windmill Tower. Robert Mylne of Balfargie undertook to construct a windmill after 1686, and the surviving circular rubble and sandstone tower is about 50 feet high.
The original tower was later altered, with windows inserted and a crenellated top added. By the end of the eighteenth century it had clearly ceased to function as a windmill, and in the early nineteenth century it became known as the Signal Tower. The building later formed part of commercial and domestic premises at The Shore.
No original wind machinery survives, and no complete working chronology or final operating date has been established.
Timeline
1790–1799
Windmill use ended
By the end of the eighteenth century the tower had clearly ceased to function as a windmill.
1800–1830
Converted to signal tower
The former windmill was altered with windows and a crenellated top and became known as the Signal Tower in the early nineteenth century.
Sources and records
Trove / Canmore place record; Scottish Windmills: An Outline and Inventory; Windmill World site entry; RCAHMS inventory record