Stanley Mills

PricingHalf price in your first year of English Heritage membership, then freeEH memberHalf, then freeNon-member£8.50

EH members: half price, then freeInfo

Half price, then free, for English Heritage members

This place is cared for by Historic Environment Scotland. First-year English Heritage members get 50% off the ticket price; members who have renewed get in free. Bring your valid membership card, and any pre-booked tickets, to ensure entry.

Pre-booking is recommended at Edinburgh Castle, Skara Brae, Stirling Castle, Blackness Castle, Urquhart Castle, Doune Castle and Maeshowe. Bookings are limited to six people per membership.
Bring the card itself: joint and family memberships admit the named holders only.
Historic Scotland does not offer reciprocal admission to National Trust properties, and a National Trust card is not accepted here.

More information

Entry

Non-member prices

Adult (aged 16 to 64)£8.50

Child (aged 7 to 15)£4.00

Concession (aged 65 and over)£6.80

Pricing details

In-person price; £7.50 booked online. One undated price table is published for the April to September season; recheck on reopening in 2027. Children under 7 free but need a ticket; up to two carers free per transaction; Young Scot card holders pay £1 online; 25 per cent off with code GOOD25 for car-free visitors booking online. Explorer Pass accepted in summer. No family ticket, joint ticket or audio guide. English Heritage members: half price in your first membership year and free after your first renewal, on showing a valid card; bookings capped at six people per membership. Historic Scotland members free.

In-person price; £3.50 booked online; under-7s free with a ticket. English Heritage members: half price in your first membership year and free after your first renewal, on showing a valid card; bookings capped at six people per membership. Historic Scotland members free.

In-person price; £6 booked online. English Heritage members: half price in your first membership year and free after your first renewal, on showing a valid card; bookings capped at six people per membership. Historic Scotland members free.

ParkingParking not known

The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.

Parking details

Historic Scotland says visitor parking is available and that the level tarmac car park in front of the visitor centre has an accessible bay; coach parking is listed. No charge or free statement is published, so the status is recorded as unknown; a 2025 visitor and Google describe it as free.

Driving pin: the car park mapped on OpenStreetMap off Mill Road on the north side of the mills, the only one within 300 m, 132 m from HES's pin. By bus: regular services from Perth to Stanley, about 25 minutes, to Murray Place or Stanley Cross, 0.5 miles away. By rail: direct trains to Perth. By bike: about 3 miles from National Cycle Network 77 and 9 miles from Perth station, racks for four bikes; 25 per cent off online with code GOOD25 when arriving car-free.

About

Stanley Mills stand at a hairpin bend of the River Tay, 8 miles north of Perth, where immense water power drew Perth merchants and the English cotton baron Richard Arkwright to build a cotton mill in 1786, and for 200 years the Tay drove the making of textiles here until the mills closed for good in 1989. They are the best preserved of all the mills in which Arkwright had a direct hand, and the brick Bell Mill with its rooftop bellcote is one of the world's oldest surviving factories, largely unchanged. Fires, closures and new owners followed, from Buchanan and Co's Mid Mill to the Sandemans' turbines, cotton belting sold worldwide and webbing for the forces in both world wars. Through interactive displays and recorded memories, the exhibition tells the stories of the workers, mostly women and children, with the lades and wheelpit to explore. Visitors spend a couple of hours inside, then picnic by the car park and walk down to the river.

ClosedPick a day for times and prices

Until 31 Mar: Closed
From 1 Apr: Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun 10:00–16:30, last entry 16:00

Today, Saturday 24 October

Stanley MillsClosed

Opening times may change at short notice.

1 April to 30 September Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4.30pm, closed Monday and Friday; last entry 30 minutes before closing; closed 1 October to 31 March. Historic Scotland recommends booking an entry slot in advance. Access notice on 18 October 2026: 'due to temporary restrictions, visitors who need to use a lift are currently limited to the ground floor and basement levels, and the Mid Mill lift is out of order.'

The shop and visitor centre are on one level; the Bell Mill's ground-floor room has uneven areas, the tar room is down a narrow corridor and spiral stair (or lift), the archaeology room and wheelpit walkway have metal grid floors, the spinning room is up two flights of spiral stairs (or lift), and the artefact store opens only on request or open days; the Mid Mill's interactive room is on the ground floor and its carding room up two flights of stairs; the top-floor exhibition room is reached only by stairs, and the terrace beside the Bell Mill by a steep slope. Toilets and adapted toilets in the interactive and carding rooms, baby changing, ear defenders; shop with self-service tea and coffee, picnic area, no cafe or audio guide.

Photo: The brick Bell Mill with its rooftop bellcote and the domed gatehouse at Stanley Mills. Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stanley_Mills,_Perthshire,_The_Bell_Mill_and_Gatehouse_-_geograph.org.uk_-_4313716.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.