Deanston


Deanston is a village in the Stirling council area, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Teith east of Doune, in south-west Perthshire. It is a part of the parish of Kilmadock.

Etymology

The name comes from Walter Drummond, Dean of Dunblane in 1500, originally called Deans Town. After his appointment as Dean of Dunblane, he acquired the lands now known as Deanston from the Haldanes of Gleneagles.

Deanston mill

Deanston Cotton Mill was built by the Buchanan brothers of Carston, Killearn near Glasgow, in 1785,
and utilised the River Teith to power the mill. In 1808 James Finlay & Co bought and developed the mill, including the construction of a 1500 yard long Lade. James Smith, manager of the mill from 1807, was a successful entrepreneur and inventor. He built unusually designed accommodation over four levels for his workforce, called the divisions, which was new in its day. At its peak, the mill had over 1000 workers and had the largest waterwheel in Europe, Hercules, with diameter.
The cotton mill closed in 1965. On the site, the Deanston Distillery opened in 1966 and is owned by Burn Stewart Distillers Limited, where it produces several megawatts for the National Grid.

Notable People

Oddly as a small village Deanston links to two Lord Provosts of Glasgow: Sir John Muir and Sir David Richmond.
Deanston is the birthplace of pioneering documentary maker John Grierson after whom a street in the village is named.
James Tod of Deanston WS FRSE laird of Deanston from around 1830 to 1858.