 Partick remained a relatively small village until the early nineteenth century.The steep drop of the River Kelvin between what is now Glasgow's Botanic Gardens and the river's mouth, led to Partick becoming an important centre of milling, especially grain milling.While Glasgow's Molendinar Burn powered a few mills during the medieval period, its flow was insufficient for the needs of the growing burgh, perhaps as early as the twelfth century.