Pates Knowes Smelting Mill, Wanlockhead, Dumfriesshire.

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The Pate Knowes Smelter was originally built in 1746, over the year's additional hearths and features had been added, so that in the end it had five scotch hearths, two roasting furnaces, one slag hearth and a reverberating furnace. A water wheel inside the furnace house was used to drive bellows for all hearths and an exhaust fan for the fumes. In 1780 an additional water wheel was built on the north face of the smelter for the purpose of mechanically crushing ore on site.

During its operational life, 1764 to 1845 it is estimated that the total amount of lead smelted at Pate Knowes was approximately 63,000 tonnes. The larger smelt mill at Meadowfoot finally replaced the smelter.

Pates Knowes Smelting Mill Surface Features Features in around the smelt mill. Updated 19th June 2008.