Historic Bowes Mill Recognised in Tay Valley Township With Classic Early Community Residence

Tay Valley Township Council has announced recognition of the prominent Bowes grist mill, and its heritage residence, as a legacy property under the municipality’s Heritage Properties Program.  Also known as Tay View Mill, the property on the Tay River and Bowes Sideroad, has been part of the family since 1929, when Anson and Mary Wilson Bowes acquired and rebuilt the mill.  The property is now owned by Wilson and Jane Bowes. 

The mill and residence property has had many other well-known owners since it was first acquired from the Crown in 1823, including Joshua Adams, founder of Glen Tay Hamlet, John Chaffey, builder of Chaffey Mills, and entrepreneur Peter McLaren.  The grist mill, built about 1844 by Adam Scott Elliott, operated continuously to the 1890s, when it was converted into a hydro generating plant, one of four mills along the Tay River to produce power for the Town of Perth. 

The Bowes residence, across the river from the mill, was built by John Allan, who owned the property between 1856 and 1867.  The wall construction is ‘board-on-board’, a system common in early sawmilling areas, in which boards laid flat build up the wall, providing both the structure and insulation.   The home has retained its original roof and first floor windows, and the charm of a classic mid-19^th Century, vertical wood-sided farm home.  It was featured in a recent Christmas Home Tour, by the Canadian Federation of University Women of Perth.  

The Heritage Properties Recognition Program acknowledges Tay Valley Township’s long and diverse indigenous and settler history, and the wealth of heritage properties that define our community.  Properties eligible to receive recognition include buildings that have historic or cultural significance to the community, structures such as monuments, cemetery markers or bridges, and heritage landscapes and archaeological sites. This program is commemorative and carries no legal restrictions for properties. Please note that these are private properties.  For further information please visit https://www.tayvalleytwp.ca/HeritagePropertiesProgram/.