Water Houses

The water houses in New Lanark were built between 1799 and 1818 by Robert Owen, they are a series of one- and two-story buildings next to mill one and run along the side of the river.

The mills of New Lanark relied on waterpower, this is one of the reasons the settlement was built on the river Clyde. In order to capture the power of the water, a dam was built above New Lanark and water was drawn off the river to power the mill machinery.

The water first travelled through a tunnel, then through an open channel called the lade. It then went to a number of water wheels in each mill building. It was not until 1929 that the last waterwheel was replaced by a water turbine.

The waterpower of New Lanark meant that the mills were more efficient and produced more profits for Owen’s to continue his reforms of the site.

The water houses were incredibly important parts of the site and early depictions of the village include them, This is how we can determine when they were built as they were not present in the drawings done by Robert Scott in 1799, but they do appear in the drawings by John Winnings illustrations in 1818.

The water houses were used as stores for raw and waste cotton. They were also used as picking houses and for mule spinning also.

Prior to the water houses being built, records show that 100 women worked at picking cotton in their homes.

Only a portion of the Water Houses survive as originally built. The part fronting Mills 3 and 4 burned down in 1919. At the SE end of the terrace, the walls of a 5-bay fragment of this remain opposite Mill 3.  

Waterpower is still used in New Lanark. A new water turbine has been installed in Mill Number Three to provide electricity for the tourist areas of the village.