As the popularity of the woven fabric increased, the various processes dyeing, carding and spinning would produce a bottleneck. It was decided to industrialise the carding process and with this, a carding mill was established near Tarbert (in Direcleit) to help local crofters process wool and increase production.
The “Direcleit Mill” was a water-powered carding mill built in 1900 by Sir Samuel Scott, the then owner of the North Harris Estate. This building was the first carding mill on Harris; its purpose was to take in fleeces from crofters and mechanically card the wool to prepare it for spinning, a process that was still done by hand at the weaver’s croft. Driving the carding machinery with hydro power, eased the hand-carding burden on the weavers. This 1900 initiative marked the very beginning of mechanisation in the Harris Tweed industry.
Even though the carding mill has now closed, it has been renovated into a home, utilising the original main structure. This carding mill represented the start of mechanising the processing of wool on Harris; a process that is now done at the mills on the Isle of Lewis today.
