Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB10/11/020

Address :
Christie's Mill Beside 8 Crockan Road Artigarvan Strabane Co Tyrone BT82 0HZ

Townland:
Fyfin/ Knockanbrack

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
05/08/2014 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Mill

Former Use
Mill

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
Yes

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
Partially

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OS Map No:
73-03

IG Ref:
H4191 9912

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

A three-storey/ single-bay water-powered corn mill with abutting single-bay, two-storey/ single-bay roofless grain-drying kiln, and two-storey/single-bay store, all of late-1850s date. 1. Corn mill This mill is aligned N-S along the E side of the public road. It has a pitched natural slate roof with vestiges of half-round metal gutters. The walls are of random rubble, with traces of render; heavily overgrown with ivy on S and W elevations. All openings have hand-made brick jambs and heads. Unless otherwise stated, all the windows have 3x3-paned frames and shallow segmental heads, but no cills. The W elevation is very overgrown, but two window openings are visible on the inside at GF and SF levels. There is a loading door at right and window to left at FF level. The N gable has a waterwheel (described below), the axle of which passes into the mill’s GF. There is a window at FF left and doorway at FF right to access the top of the waterwheel. The SF is lit by a single central window; there are also two small openings of unknown function in the gable apex at left. The E elevation of the mill is abutted to right and centre by the store. The main doorway into the mill is on the exposed section of wall at GF left. There is a 2x3 window to FF and a 2x2 window to SF. Interestingly, the latter is partly blocked by the roofline of the store, suggesting that the latter is an addition (but probably built very soon after the mill). The S gable is abutted to GF and FF by the kiln. There is a doorway through the party wall at GF and FF right; the latter has been infilled. The entire wall at SF and apex level has been rebuilt in alternate courses of concrete blocks and bricks and its outside face rendered with cement. This rebuilt section is c.12 inches thinner than the masonry wall below. Roof: Natural slate. RWG: Half-round metal. Walling: Random rubble masonry; small section of brick and concrete blockwork. Windows: 3x3 timber. 1a. Waterwheel The waterwheel is of the high breast-shot variety and measures 16ft in diameter by 5ft wide. Its axle, hubs and rims are of cast-iron. Each of the rims comprises eight segments bolted together. Each segment bears its maker’s name “James Stevenson/ Strabane Foundry/ Strabane”. The arms (2 sets of 8), angled buckets (48 in total) and soleplate are of timber, now deteriorated. Remnants of the iron mechanism which raised and lowered the sluice gate at the end of the launder survive. It was controlled from inside the mill, at FF level. The wheel sits in a stone-lined pit and was supplied from W by a timber launder, now long gone, atop a rubble stone bank. The mill pond survives at W, albeit overgrown, along with the open channel which brought the water to the launder at the mill. Once through the wheel, the water returned to the Glenmornan River along an open tailrace, now largely infilled. 2. Store This two-storey building abuts the mill’s E elevation and is aligned E-W. Its roof, walls and openings are detailed as the mill. The N elevation has a doorway at GF right and a window to middle and left (the latter infilled with brick). At FF level, there is a loading door at middle, and window at right. The E gable is blank except for a FF window. The S elevation has a door at each end of GF, with window between. There are two windows at FF level. Roof: Natural slate. RWG: Half-round metal. Walling: Random rubble masonry. Windows: 3x3 timber. 3. Kiln The kiln is now a ruinous and roofless random rubble shell. It was a key element of the mill as it was necessary to dry the oats thoroughly before they were milled. The E elevation of this building has partly collapsed, but a number of door and window openings are apparent (mostly infilled), including the stoking end of the kiln’s firehole. The latter was undoubtedly protected by the small abutting building noted on the OS maps from 1905 onwards. Its S gable is blank save for an infilled GF opening and much of the W elevation has collapsed. Roof: Missing. RWG: Missing. Walling: Random rubble masonry. Windows: Missing. Setting: Formerly supplied from the Glenmornan River, the mill complex is located at a sharp bend in the Crockan Road which runs along its W side. The former two-storey mill house, now refurbished by its present owner, is to its NW and a 1950s farm outbuilding lies to its N.

Architects

Historical Information

A water powered mill is depicted here on an Abercorn Estate map of 1777. It is captioned ‘New Mill’ which implies that it was probably of relatively recent construction. A corn mill is captioned at this location on the 1833 OS map; this is probably the same one as that on the 1777 map. However, it may have been a very small building, perhaps no longer operating, as the valuation book for Knockanbrack notes that none of the buildings in that townland had a rateable valuation of £3 or more. The 1854 OS map captions the complex as ‘Corn mill & Kiln’; it appears to have the same footprint as on the 1833 edition. The 1857 valuation notes Thomas Christie as its tenant, under lease from the Marquis of Abercorn. The complex comprised three conjoined buildings with the following measurements: (1) 22ft x 40ft x 9ft 6in, (2) 10ft x 13ft x 5ft, and (3) 11ft x 12ft x 5ft. Its quality letter is given as 1C+ which indicates that the mill was slated, in repair, but not of recent construction. It contained only one pair of millstones (4ft 6in diameter) and worked for six months in the year. The waterwheel measured 12ft 6in in diameter by 2ft 8in wide and had 9 inch deep rims. The fall of water was 13ft; this suggests an overshot feed on to the wheel. The rateable valuation of the complex is given as £4, although this is subsequently updated to £5. That it had such a low valuation was partly due to the bad roads in its neighbourhood and because the wheel was prone to backwatering. The valuation revision books note Thomas Christie continuing to run the mill until his death c.1881. It was then taken over by John Christie until it passed to John and James Christie c.1897. James Christie is noted as its owner in 1914. The 1905 OS map shows the mill, still captioned as ‘Corn mill’, in its present form, and with a small addition to the E elevation of the building at the S end of the block. . The mill appears to have continued operating until sometime after the First World War. It is noted in the 1928 valuation as ‘at rest’. Since the first valuation revision book of 1860, the mill’s rateable valuation had been £5. Once at rest, it was reduced to £2.10s.0d and it remained inoperative thereafter. The fact that its valuation remained unchanged between 1860 and 1928 suggests no major alterations were made to the mill complex over that entire period. Given that the 1857 valuation statistics are completely at variance with the mill as it now stands (it was then a single-storey building measuring 22ft x 40ft x 9ft 6in, but is now a three-storey building measuring c.23ft x 27), this suggests that it was completely rebuilt in its present form sometime between 1857 and 1860. This would also explain the increase 25% increase in rateable valuation denoted by the update in the 1857 valuation book (from £4 to £5). Although James Grieve, nephew of James Christie, took over the defunct mill in the mid-1930s, it has always been known as Christie’s Mill. The 1951 map shows the buildings, but without any caption; this confirms that the mill was still inoperative. The roof of both it and the store are depicted on the map as intact, but the kiln and small abutting building on its E elevation were now roofless. A similar depiction is shown on the 1972 map, but the small building abutting the kiln had disappeared. References – Primary sources: 1. PRONI D623/D/1/16/20. Map of the townlands of Fyfinn and Lisdoo, 1777. The mill is on the townland boundary between Fyfin and Knockanbrack. 2. PRONI OS/6/6/5/1. OS six-inch map, Co Tyrone sheet 5 (1833). 3. PRONI VAL/1/B/640. First valuation book for Knockanbrack townland, surveyed 26 Sept 1833. 4. PRONI OS/6/6/5/2. OS six-inch map, Co Tyrone sheet 5 (1854). 5. PRONI VAL/2B/6/43A. Second valuation book, 1857. 6. PRONI VAL/12/B/42/22A-F. Valuation revision books, 1860-1929. 7. PRONI OS/10/6/5/8/1. OS 25-inch map, Co Tyrone sheet 5-08 (1905). 8. PRONI VAL/12/F/7/10/5. Valuation revision books, 1930-35. 9. PRONI VAL/3/C/7/21. Valuation revision books, 1936-57. 10. PRONI OS/10/6/5/8/2. OS 25-inch map, Co Tyrone sheet 5-08 (1951). 11. PRONI OS/11/73/3/1. First edition OS 1:2500 map, IG sheet 73-03 (1972).

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form G. Innovatory Qualities I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance X. Local Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance Z. Rarity W. Northern Ireland/International Interest

Evaluation

This mill is of both architectural and historical interest. Architecturally, its plain utilitarian style is typical of many such small-scale industrial enterprises throughout the countryside. Its plan form reflects the mill’s connectivity with the kiln and store, both of which were essential to its successful operation. The disposition between floors of the various pieces of machinery reflects the different processes involved in milling and the utilization of gravity to assist, as far as possible, in the production process. The interior is unaltered and there is no evidence that the gearing and machinery, all of which survives, is other than original. The mill’s setting is also of note in reflecting the rural context in which it operated. Historically, the documentary evidence indicates a fairly certain date of erection – in the late 1850s. This is supported by the fabric of the mill, all of which is original except for part of the S gable of the mill. The use of brick dressings around the openings and the lineshaft arrangement of the gears and stones are typical of the mid and later 1800s. The mill is, without doubt, of high local interest as it once played a key role in this locality’s agricultural economy. Moreover, although cornmills were once ubiquitous throughout Ulster, relatively few now survive in such an intact state. The fact that it has lineshaft gearing rather than the more common great-spurwheel arrangement enhances its historical and technical interest.

General Comments

Listing Criteria R - Age; S - Authenticity and T - Historic Importance also apply.

Date of Survey

19 March 2014