Caerlee textile Mills in Innerleithen closes

Closure of last remaining textile mill in Innerleithen

Sad news in Innerleithen today as efforts to save Scotland’s oldest continually-operating textile mill from closure have failed.

Caerlee Mills in Innerleithen, near Peebles in the Scottish Borders, has shut with the loss of 33 jobs. Three staff have been retained to help in winding down the business.

The gates of the mill closed after production came to an end on Friday.

Liquidators KPMG had attempted to secure the sale of the 225-year-old mill as a going concern, but no interest was expressed.

At its peak the mill, which dates back to 1788, employed 400 workers and the

Previous owners JJ & HB Cashmere went into administration three years ago with the loss of 132 jobs.

Innerleithen has a long running history of textile production when in the 1780s, Alexander Brodie, a native of nearby Traquair, built Caerlee Mill after returning to Innerleithen from London. Further mills were built transforming Innerleithen from a small rural village into a significant mill town.

In fact our office sits on the land once occupied by one of these many mills and the Mill Lade, a water course providing water and power for the mills still runs under our car park. Starting South of the Innerleithen Golf Course and running for a mile and a half before it flows into the Tweed, the Lade not only powered the Mills but two farms, two sawmills, a meal mill, an engineering works and a printing works also used the fast flowing water from the lade to drive their water-wheels.

There’s further information on the history of textiles and the part that Innerleitehn played on the Innerleithen Community Website