Catrine Weir
Catrine Weir, image copyright Rathmell Archaeology Ltd
Emergency repair works undertaken by the Catrine Community Trust to the weir on the complex water management system known as the Catrine Weir and Voes is drawing to a close. The origins of this hydraulic system lie in the late eighteenth century, when water was first drawn off the River Ayr in order to power the Ballochmyle Cotton Works. The system was subject to modification in the mid-nineteenth century, when it was adapted to provide power for a set of Fairbairn suspension waterwheels later installed at the mill.
The process of repair has involved the filling of voids within the historic fabric which have resulted from undermining and subsiding of the material which forms the weir's spillway. After the removal of debris from within these voids, the historic timbers have been underpinned and then the voids filled with graded rock - forming a stable surface, thus averting the collapse and potential loss of the weir.
Exposed timbers, image copyright Rathmell Archaeology Ltd
These works have been conducted under Scheduled Monument Consent issued by Historic Scotland on behalf of Scottish Ministers. The Catrine Community Trust brought Ayrshire-based Rathmell Archaeology Ltd into their project team to monitor these emergency works to ensure a sound record of this historic structure was maintained. Liaison was maintained with the West of Scotland Archaeology Service throughout to ensure our Historic Environment Record kept a record of new discoveries