Campbeltown's Lost Distilleries |
Page updated 09/02/2018
|
Campbeltown was home to probably 37 distilleries - this just refers to licensed distilleries, there were a number of illicit distilleries in the area in the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1835, there were 28 distilleries in production. In 1935, no whisky was produced in Campbeltown. When Alfred Barnard visited in 1885, there were 21 active distilleries, but by the end of the 1920s only one, Rieclachan, was still distilling. "By 1934**, the twin survivors of Springbank and Glen Scotia had restarted production – but Rieclachan had shut for good." (scotchwhisky.com). ** probably 1936, judging from letters reproduced in David Stirk's book, see below. Also one of the reasons given in this article for the demise of Campetown's distilleries was the closure of the Drumlemble pit in 1923 - the last pit in the area at the time lasted until 1929 - " The poor quality of this seam combined with the depressed national economy led to closure in 1929." In any case, also because of quality, "the Distillers import a large portion of that used by them from Ayrshire." (Stirk)
The impression sometimes gvien that Campbeltown had over 30 distilleries at one time, is therefore wrong, many of those that go to make up the 37 figure I've quoted were very short-lived, but there were around 20 distilleries in Campbeltown producing whisky from the 1820s to the 1920s, and for much of this time it would have been difficult to turn a corner in the northern part of the town, from Main Street round the Loch to Dalintober High Street without being in view of more than one distillery.
Many articles and books have been written about Campbeltown Whisky, my aim here is to provide the names of the distilleries, the dates they operated, a few facts about them, and links to historical maps showing their locations.
For more detailed histories of the distilleries the following books are recommended (prices correct as of 25/10/17):
As usual whilst the above have been used for reference, I rely on links to the internet for easy reference. I don't have many photos for these old distilleries (yet), so have had to rely mainly on Google Street View links.
Links are to the Lost Distilleries of Scotland site; and the Whisky Story blog.
Map links are to the National Library of Scotland map collection. This is a truly fascinating site providing maps through the years from all over Scotland - and indeed the rest of Great Britain - and only a part of the vast NLS site.
The site provides the opportunity to compare side by side, maps from as far back as 1747. The synchronisation between the oldest of maps and their modern equivalents isn't always 100%, due to the inadequacies of ancient cartography - but once we move on to maps based on the Ordnance Survey, which is the era when Distilleries are marked, synchronisation is much better.
Little can be gathered from these early maps in relation to Campbeltwn, other than the 1747 map being of sufficient scale to show Dalintober as separate from Campbeltown - and very little development north of the Loch. The old maps also show the small rivers flowing into the Loch in greater clarity than the more modern maps, as these burns have long been buried within the town itself.
The task of mapping the whole of Great Britain in such detail necessary for the six inch and 25 inch maps, which are of use in tracing multiple distilleries in a single town, took many years, so many series of maps have a broad spectrum of years. The listed dates refer to the date of survey or revision, rather than the date of publication of the map. Links to maps available in zoomable, seamless and/or side-by-side format are linked to centred on the point of interest, at the most appropriate zoom level. Individual sheets from other editions sometimes show more historical progression than the side-by-side options can provide.
Google - Google Street View.
I've included Glengyle, due to its lengthy absence from production, but not Glen Scotia and Springbank.
The impression sometimes gvien that Campbeltown had over 30 distilleries at one time, is therefore wrong, many of those that go to make up the 37 figure I've quoted were very short-lived, but there were around 20 distilleries in Campbeltown producing whisky from the 1820s to the 1920s, and for much of this time it would have been difficult to turn a corner in the northern part of the town, from Main Street round the Loch to Dalintober High Street without being in view of more than one distillery.
Many articles and books have been written about Campbeltown Whisky, my aim here is to provide the names of the distilleries, the dates they operated, a few facts about them, and links to historical maps showing their locations.
For more detailed histories of the distilleries the following books are recommended (prices correct as of 25/10/17):
- Alfred Barnard - The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom - the classic book on distilleries in the late 19th century (published 1887). Currently Amazon have a copy of the latest edition on offer for £3,628.99 + postage! There are other cheaper editions available from about £70. Since writing this last week (mid October 2017), cheaper copies have appeared. (Amazon, from £25.03, Kindle £6.99)
- Aeneas MacDonald - Whisky - a history of whisky first published in 1930. (Amazon, from £7.64, Kindle £3.79)
- Brian Townsend - Scotch Missed: Scotland's Lost Distilleries (1993, 4th edition 2015) - lost distilleries throughout Scotland, including some in Campbeltown. (Amazon, from £14.91)
- David Stirk - The Distilleries of Campbeltown: The Rise and Fall of The Whisky Capital of the World (2005). This book charts the birth and death of Campbeltown's distilleries, and gives a flavour of whisky life in Campbeltown. It also has many pictures as well as reproducing the 1865 maps showing the distilleries operating at the time. The pages from Barnard relating to Campbeltown are included as an Appendix. (Amazon, from £11.42, Kindle £6.64).
- Misako Udo - The Scotch Whisky Distilleries (2006) - facts and figures about every Scottish distillery - ever. This book is more difficult to get hold of, not being available on Kindle - the cheapest I've seen is £100. (Fortunately I have a copy from 10 years ago, though it's looking rather tatty now). (Amazon, from £100 used; from £140 new)
- Philip Morrice - The Whisky Distilleries of Scotland and Ireland (1987). Re-tracing Barnard's footsteps. Virtually impossible to get hold of, as only 1,000 copies were printed and many were lost in a fire. In an interview with Whisky News (6 May 2017), Philip mentioned his intention to re-publish this work in both hard copy and electronically; and hopefully to update it. So this is a second-hand recommendation - I'm told it's very good.
- Dougie - Whisky Story - a blog in Barnard's footsteps (2010).
As usual whilst the above have been used for reference, I rely on links to the internet for easy reference. I don't have many photos for these old distilleries (yet), so have had to rely mainly on Google Street View links.
Links are to the Lost Distilleries of Scotland site; and the Whisky Story blog.
Map links are to the National Library of Scotland map collection. This is a truly fascinating site providing maps through the years from all over Scotland - and indeed the rest of Great Britain - and only a part of the vast NLS site.
The site provides the opportunity to compare side by side, maps from as far back as 1747. The synchronisation between the oldest of maps and their modern equivalents isn't always 100%, due to the inadequacies of ancient cartography - but once we move on to maps based on the Ordnance Survey, which is the era when Distilleries are marked, synchronisation is much better.
Little can be gathered from these early maps in relation to Campbeltwn, other than the 1747 map being of sufficient scale to show Dalintober as separate from Campbeltown - and very little development north of the Loch. The old maps also show the small rivers flowing into the Loch in greater clarity than the more modern maps, as these burns have long been buried within the town itself.
The task of mapping the whole of Great Britain in such detail necessary for the six inch and 25 inch maps, which are of use in tracing multiple distilleries in a single town, took many years, so many series of maps have a broad spectrum of years. The listed dates refer to the date of survey or revision, rather than the date of publication of the map. Links to maps available in zoomable, seamless and/or side-by-side format are linked to centred on the point of interest, at the most appropriate zoom level. Individual sheets from other editions sometimes show more historical progression than the side-by-side options can provide.
- 1865 - Ordnance Survey Town Plan of Campbeltown 1:500 scale and available in side-by-side format, doesn't cover some of the extremeties of the town - see 1866 maps for these areas.
- 1866 - Ordnance Survey 25 inch map 1st edition - labelled overall as 1855-1882 but not available in the side-by-side format and so have to be referenced individually - sheets CCLVII.8 and CCLVII.12 cover Campbeltown.
- 1866(6) - Ordnance Survey 6 inch map 1st edition based on the same survey - shown as 1843-1882 in the side-by-side format the individual sheet for Campbeltown is sheet CCLVII.
- 1898 - Ordnance Survey 25 inch map 2nd edition - shown as 1892-1905 in the side-by-side format. The individual sheets for Campeltown are 257.08 and 257.12 cover Campbeltown.
- 1898(6) - Ordnance Survey 6 inch map 2nd edition based on the same survey - 1888-1913 is available in the side-by-side format the individual sheets for Campbeltown are sheets CCLVII.NE and CCLVII.SE.
- 1914 - Ordnance Survey 25 inch map - 1892-1905 sheets are not available in the side-by-side format and so have to be referenced individually - sheets 257.08 and 257.12 cover Campbeltown.
- 1914(6) - Ordnance Survey 6 inch map only available as individual sheet CCLVII.
- 1938 - Ordnance Survey 6 inch map only available as individual sheet CCLVII.
- 1959 - Ordnance Survey 6 inch map only available as individual sheet CCLVII.
Google - Google Street View.
I've included Glengyle, due to its lengthy absence from production, but not Glen Scotia and Springbank.
Can you name these lost distilleries?
The 37th Distillery? 34 listed above plus Glen Scotia and Springbank = 36. Misako Udo makes it to 37 by counting Drumore as 2 different distilleries. Brian Townsend, in his round up of the "faded earlier" distilleries, ends with "and an unnamed distillery in Dalintober fued from 1826-7 to Messrs Campbell, McFarland and Harvey and sold on in 1829. ????
Campbeltown DistilleriesLinks to Other RegionsGo ToCampbeltown LochOh! Campbeltown Loch, Ah wish ye were whisky!
Campbeltown Loch, Och Aye! Campbeltown Loch, I wish ye were whisky! Ah wid drink ye dry. (Full lyrics on wikipedia) |
Inside Springbank's Bottling Hall
|
Former Hazelburn Distillery, with Tesco (on site of Lochead Distillery) in the background
|
