Clyde Mill Distillery

When the Nicholas family arrived from Britain in 1821 their luggage included mill stones. They received a land grant of 1800 acres. They were practical farmers and soon had built a cottage and were making and selling bricks. They were described as industrious and ingenious. Their farm was called Nant or The Nant after their home in Wales. By 1825 Edward Nicholas was offering to grind wheat for his neighbours.

Edward Nicholas fell from his gig and died in 1837 and is buried in the Bothwell churchyard. His son George inherited Nant. He married Margaret Espie the daughter of another miller. His brother Henric married Hannah Gatenby from another farming/milling family. Both George and Henric increased their land holdings, and the Nicholas families eventually became some of the largest landowners in the state.

The miller’s cottage which is now part of the Clyde Mill was lived in before 1848 and is probably much older. It was occupied almost continuously until the end of the twentieth century by Nant farm workers. The mill has obviously been built in 2 sections at different times, the stone section may have been built when the Nant homestead was enlarged by George Nicholas in 1857.The date stone on the end of the millers cottage was probably carved by James Colbeck, one of the men who carved the figures on the Ross bridge and who later settled in Bothwell.

The mill declined in use once more modern milling methods were invented but the water wheel continued to pump water up to the homestead. Later it fell into disuse, and the mill pond became full of debris. The Nicholas family moved out of Bothwell and leased Nant for many years. In 1905 the Campbell family began leasing Nant and after buying up much other land in the district they bought Nant in 1926. Three generations of the Campbell lived at Nant but in 1976 the three farming sons of Ken Campbell decided to sell the property and go their separate ways.

Nant was divided after the sale into 3 parts: the homestead block being bought by Ellangowan Pty. Ltd the company of Ted and Pam Archer. Ted and Pam lived in the house. In 1987 they sold the bulk of the farmland to the company owned by Richard and Mary Ramsay, retaining 50plus hectares for their own use. After Ted’s death this homestead and mill portion was sold to an interstate fisherman called Keith Batt in 2004. Batt looked at the world whisky figures and decided to turn the mill into a distillery. He employed a distiller and commenced making whisky under the Nant label.  He later bought the mill marsh opposite so he could grow barley to make his own mash. Keith Batt’s liquidators sold the complex in 2017 to Australian Whisky Holdings Bothwell. The tourist café and whisky bar that Batt had established was affected by the Covid epidemic and was closed down. 

In 2025 a new era has begun with the Nant Mill Distillery being taken over by neighbours, John and Annie Ramsay who have re-named the whisky label the Clyde Mill and have opened up the distillery, cafe and tasting room.