Rosefield Mills – Dumfries, Scotland - Atlas Obscura
Places near me Random place

AO Edited

Rosefield Mills

Dumfries, Scotland

This decaying, grandiose tweed mill once housed the Norwegian Army in exile. 

View all photos
Norwegian troops training with 2inch mortar in Dumfries in 1941 W. T. Lockeyear
2
14
Top Places in Scotland
Govan Stones
Glasgow, Scotland
Glasgow City Center Mural Trail
Glasgow, Scotland
Machrie Moor Standing Stones
Machrie, Scotland
 See All

Designed in 1886 by local architect Alan Crombie, this massive building was commissioned for the production of Scottish tweed and became one of several tweed mills in the city. 

Since closing its doors to textile production in the 1920s, the building has housed many industries, but the most notable came when Germany invaded and occupied Norway in 1940. The soldiers, sailors, and other patriots who escaped from the country to continue the struggle alongside Britain were allocated the building as the headquarters of the Norwegian forces in the United Kingdom. Over 1,000 Norwegians were billeted in Rosefield Mills, before a larger barracks complex was built at Carronbridge, which lies north of the town.

Amongst the earliest arrivals were about 250 members of the Norwegian whaling fleet who were at sea when Germany invaded and refused to return to Norway. In 2019, to commemorate their arrival in Dumfries, a whale-shaped bench was installed in Dock Park directly opposite the mill building. 

In 2019, the building was purchased by the Dumfries Historic Buildings Trust, but still sits crumbling while awaiting a new life.

Know Before You Go

There is no public access to the building. It can be viewed either from Dock Park, or on the western side of the river along the riverside walk, which skirts the property boundary. 

Atlas Obscura Trips

NEW - Flavors of Scotland: Beyond the Haggis

Smoked seafood, single malt whisky, and warm hospitality.
Book Now
fabric wool industry textiles mills war world war ii abandoned architecture
Nearby
Dumfries Camera Obscura
0.36 miles
Garden of Cosmic Speculation
5.27 miles
Robert Burns Ellisland Farm
5.97 miles
Want to see fewer ads? Become a Member.
Near This Place
Dumfries, Scotland

Dumfries Camera Obscura

The oldest working camera obscura in the world sits on the top floor of an old windmill tower.
Holywood, Scotland

Garden of Cosmic Speculation

A 30-acre garden inspired by the principles of modern physics.
Robert Burns Ellisland Farm
Holywood, Scotland

Robert Burns Ellisland Farm

Experience history from the stomping grounds of the great Scottish poet.
The south face of the Ruthwell Cross in the apse.
Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

The Ruthwell Cross

An Anglo-Saxon cross inscribed with possibly the oldest written work of English literature.
Related Places
Shrewsbury, England

Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings

One of the techniques used to construct this 1797 mill was later incorporated into modern skyscrapers.
Trois-Rivières, Québec

Boréalis

The former site of the world's largest paper mill is now a museum preserving the heritage of Canada's pulp and paper industries.
Taino, Italy

Taino Gunpowder Mill

The ghostly remains of a gunpowder mill lost in 70 hectares of thick woods.
Forno, Italy

Filanda di Forno

The crumbling remains of a 19th-century textile factory.
In partnership with KAYAK

Plan Your Trip

From Around the Web