Community at heart of Silverburn Flax Mill revival

11/02/2022

The much-loved mill is at the centre of a five-year project, set to receive £3.47million from the Heritage Fund.

A derelict mill near Leven in Fife is to be brought back to life thanks to funding from National Lottery players, with people's physical and mental wellbeing at the centre of the project.

The revival of Silverburn Flax Mill will include a new visitor centre, backpackers’ hostel, café, artists studios, community space and a shop. It will also create around 130 jobs, including construction trainee placements for local young people, and roles for people experiencing mental health problems. There will also be a range of volunteering opportunities, targeted at people from under-served communities.

Heritage is at the heart of every community and we are delighted to support a project which will safeguard this unique historic flax mill building and use it to revitalise Silverburn

Caroline Clark, Heritage Fund Director for Scotland

Caroline Clark, the Heritage Fund Director for Scotland, said: "Heritage is at the heart of every community and we are delighted to support a project which will safeguard this unique historic flax mill building and use it to revitalise Silverburn.

"It will provide training and sustainable employment, benefit mental health and wellbeing and develop tourism locally."

About the project

The project is a partnership between Fife Council and Fife Employment Access Trust (FEAT), a local charity that supports people with mental health conditions to access employment. Part of the project will be social prescribing activities for mental health and wellbeing.

Nearly £40,000 was generated by the Levenmouth community towards saving this popular place. Other donors include:

Fife Council (£2m)
a Regeneration Capital Grant Fund from the Scottish Government (£1.5m)
Historic Environment Scotland (£510,000)

About the Flax Mill

Silverburn Flax Mill is one of Scotland’s last-remaining flax industry buildings. Owned by a local family named Russell until the 1970s, the mill and its 27-acre park on the Fife Coastal Path was gifted to the people of Leven as: "a place of quiet enjoyment, supporting the health and wellbeing of the community, and respecting the habitat and biodiversity of the environment".

The buildings closed in the 1990s, but in 2019, FEAT took on the lease for the park, renamed Silverburn Park.

The mill is set to reopen in Easter 2026.