Old Mill Site

Although the Largo Oil and Cake Mill is believed to have stopped production on Christmas Eve 1910, the lease of the building continued to be held by Alexander Philp until his death in April 1931, aged 84. Alexander lived at 'The Mount' at the east end of Woodlands Road, close to the mill, and was described as a 'retired seed crusher' at the time of his death. He was the son of Benjamin Philp the commission agent.  The mill site reverted to the Largo Estate and in 1937 the advert below appeared in the Courier of 7th May.

Soon afterwards, salvageable parts of the mill were removed and the main buildings demolished. Eventually, the land was sold by the Largo Estate. A small section adjacent to Harbour Wynd was taken by Fife Council in order to build public conveniences (completed in 1937). However, much of the land went to a David Graham, who lived in the old mill manager's house and, during a large part of the '40s, kept dogs, horses and hens at the site. ​The image below dates from the late 1940s.

​Interestingly, some of the old stone from the demolished mill was used in the building of the substantial wall on the north side of Drummochy Road (see images below). This work was carried out in 1939 as part of a road-widening scheme. The Fife Free Press of 18 February that year commented under the headline 'Progressive Largo' that the works were "proving a source of interest to the children and many of the not-so-young".  It continued "although obstacles such as tree roots &c abound, work is progressing quickly. Most of the excavated earth is being used to fill up the hollow in the vacant ground to the south of the bridge over the railway. Commanding a fine view of Largo Bay to the east and west, this level part would be an ideal site for erecting a few seats."

[With thanks to John Band for contributing information to this post]