The Miller's Croft

The Miller's Croft

The miller was traditionally granted a small area of land alongside the mill which gave him an additional source of income.

At Benholm the miller's croft, extends to 7.5 acres (3 hectares), sufficient for the miller to cultivate oats in addition to keeping coows, pigs and hens.

Farm animals, including some rare breeds were originally kept here when the site was opened as a visitor centre in 1995. The plan had also been to grow some of the traditional farm crops, such as bere, a primitive form of barley, and old varieties of vegetables and fruit bushes.

The current project team would like to implement some of these original objectives.

We would like to purchase a specialist mowing machine to enable us to carry out the cutting regime required to establish a wildflower meadow on the south facing slopes of the croft.

Mill of Benholm crofters meadow