Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB16/26/007

Address :
Clanrye Mills 10 Canal Quay Newry Co Down BT35 6JB

Townland:
Lisdrumgullion

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
21/09/1977 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Mill

Former Use
Mill

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
Yes

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
266/7 NW

IG Ref:
J0863 2690

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Owner Category

Commercial

Exterior Description And Setting

A four- and six-storey red brick mill building in Venetian style at the corner of Canal Quay and New Sreet with adjoining lower mill-related buildings to north along the canal. For the purposes of description, the site will be divided into six blocks. 1. Four/ six-storey block at corner of Canal Quay and New Street. The main section is on the corner and six storeys high (+ attic). It is five openings wide to the canal and six openings wide to New Street. Conjoined at north on the canal elevation by a four storey section, five openings wide (this section was originally six storeys). Conjoined on the New Street elevation by a four-storey section, three openings wide. Artificial slate roof, hipped to the corner; the adjoining lower sections are likewise slated and hipped and all are supported on steel trusses. Half-round metal gutters. Both street elevations are of red brick on a chamfered granite base course, with quarter-round profile to corner. A continuous sandstone hood mould follows the profile of the ground floor openings. Moulded sandstone cill course to second and fourth floors, the latter doubling as cornice on the four-storey sections. A course of blue brick runs underneath cill level at first, third and fifth floors. The six storey section has a machicolated sandstone cornice around its street elevations (with a short continuation on left gable), above which is a moulded sandstone eaves course. This section also has, at middle of each street elevation, a set of paired eaves dormers, each with sandstone coped verges and trefoil opening to apex. All openings have semicircular heads and round-edged jambs. All window openings also have granite cills, and are now blocked with painted metal sheeting. The elevation to Canal Quay has five equally spaced window openings to each of its six storeys at left. The four storey section at right has a wide semicircular-headed door opening at ground floor left (containing a pair of metal-sheeted doors), and three windows to its right. There is a loading door at first floor middle and two windows on either side. The remaining two upper floors each have five equally spaced windows in line with opening below. Ornate cast-iron tie-bar washers are inserted across the top of each storey on both sections of this elevation. The elevation to New Street, on its six-storey section at right, a wide semicircular-headed door opening at ground floor middle. On either side of this opening is a circular sandstone panel, each with a small hood mould over. The left panel reads ‘Clanrye Mills’, and the right panel ‘Erected 1873’. At centre on both is the monogram ‘SS’ [=. Sinclair and Sinclair]. The opening contains a pair of metal-sheeted doors and is flanked at left and at right by a set of paired windows. At first floor, directly above the door, are two windows. Loading door at left and at right. All the upper floors have six equally spaced windows. The four-storey section to left has, at ground floor, two windows to left and a door to right. Each of the upper floors have three equally spaced windows in line with ground floor openings. Exposed gables to all sections are smooth rendered. Rear of block also cement rendered and abutted by more recent buildings and four tall circular metal grain silos. 2. Four-storey building on quayside abutting four-storey section of brick mill. This building is four openings wide and appears to date from the earliest phase of the mill complex. Hipped corrugated-asbestos roof on metal trusses. Half-round metal gutters. Principal elevation faces east to quay and has smooth render walls (probably over random rubble). Metal tie-rod washers to all floors. At ground floor left is a large double leaf metal-sheeted door in a horizontal headed opening. To its right are three window openings. The right window is now infilled, but the other two are blocked with sheeting, as are all the openings on the upper floors. All have segmental heads, granite cills and metal security grilles over. At middle of first floor is a loading door, now infilled, with two windows either side. Each of the two floors has five windows in line with the openings below. Below the cill of the second window from left on second floor is a granite plaque with capital letters reading “Sinclair and Son 1867 Steam Mills”. Left and right gables abutted by buildings 1 and 3 respectively. Exposed section of right gable smooth rendered. Back wall abutted to eaves level by a two-storey smooth-rendered building with corrugated asbestos monopitch roof. 3. Two-storey block on quayside abutting the four-storey building. This building exists only as a façade wall to canal. It is two storeys high and nine openings wide. Cement rendered walls, with banded rustication to ground floor. Projecting string course between ground and first floor, below which is a painted sign reading ‘Sands Millers Grain [… Me] rchants’. Moulded eaves cornice with rendered blocking course. All openings have been infilled and window cills removed. There is a semicircular headed pedestrian opening at left, and almost-flat vehicle entrance at right; also six semicircular arched window openings. At first floor is a loading door at sixth opening from left; the remaining eight openings are windows, all segmental headed. Left gable abutted by building 2. Right gable abutted by a large modern single-storey store with pitched profiled-metal roof and concrete block walls. Exposed section of gable smooth rendered. The back of the facade is abutted at right by a modern double-pile single-storey shed. This has curved corrugated-metal roofs, raised at east in profiled metal to accommodate internal meal bins. The façade is abutted at back left by a two-storey shed with modern profiled flat metal roof. 4. Office block on New Street. A modern two-storey brick building with artificial slate roof. Also two-storey rear return. In the courtyard behind is a large drive-on weighing machine. To left is site entrance comprising a pair of steel gates, over which is concrete beam painted ‘Robert Sands Ltd’. 5. Stable block on New Street. A two storey block, with gable facing to street; the left half of the building appears to have been demolished. Natural slate monopitch roof (falling to yard). Semicircular metal gutters. Random rubble granite walls brought to courses, with stepped red brick jambs and flat brick heads to openings; windows have granite cills. East façade, which faces to yard, is five openings wide, with painted t+g doors in openings 2 and 4 (from left), and modern 1/ 2 top opening windows to remaining openings. First floor has similar windows to all openings except fourth from left which contains a t+g loading door. North gable is of brick. Abutted by a one-storey extension (probably contemporary), with monopitch natural slate roof, brick trimmed random rubble walls, and door and window to yard. South gable, to street, is smooth rendered and has t+g door at first floor. Rear elevation was originally an internal party wall and is of partly plastered random rubble. 6. Block on west side of premises containing Belfast truss roofs. A single-storey/ double-pile building with a felted Belfast truss roofs to each pile. Random rubble walls, except to yard, which is of concrete block (originally open), with metal sliding doors. Five trusses to each pile, all estimated at 10-11m span. Diagonals to trusses not parallel, indicating an early design.

Architects

Watson, W James

Historical Information

Datestone indicates that first mill established by William and Abraham Sinclair in 1867, on the site of an earlier salt works. Milling took place in two buildings at the corner of the quay and New Street. One building contained six pairs of millstones (three for wheat, three for maize), and the other had two French burr stones (for flour) and flour dressing equipment. The machinery was powered exclusively by a 30hp steam engine, associated with a boiler house and 32m high chimney. The quayside four-storey block which adjoined to the north is described as a store and kiln. In December 1872, the mills were destroyed by fire. The following month, the concrete foundations were laid for a new six-storey mill (with four-storey section along New St). It was designed by James Watson and erected by James O’Hare (both of Newry) at a cost of some £10,000. The Valuation Revision book notes that this new mill contained six pairs of burr stones and six pairs of “double stones on Mr Cullen’s patent” [in which both runner and bedstone rotate], all driven by a 30hp triple-cylinder steam engine. All the machinery was supplied by the Newry Foundry Co. The complex is cited on 1873 OS map as ‘Canal Quay Steam Mills (corn and flour)’. In 1874, the four-storey store/ kiln was converted to a maize mill containing five pairs of stones and a 16hp steam engine. The site appears to have been vacated by Messrs Sinclair around 1886. Robert Sands first appears in the 1892-93 Valuation book entry, whereupon the corner flour mill was converted to corn milling (perhaps for animal feed). The two-storey quayside block at the north end of the site first appears in the 1906 Valuation book as office, stores and stabling. The building with the Belfast truss roofs is probably from around the turn of the century. The office block was destroyed by a malicious fire in the early 1970s. A new office block opened along New Street in 1973. A fire also gutted the main mill in 1985. It was completely reconstructed internally. The top two floors of a section along the quay were removed on safety grounds and the corner cupola also removed. The chimney was also demolished at the same time. For a detailed history of Belfast Truss roofs see HB18/08/139 Primary Sources: 1. PRONI Valuation revision books, 1866-1930, VAL 1B/246A, p.69 2. PRONI Valuation revision books, 1866-1930, VAL 1D/3/8E 3. PRONI Valuation revision books, 1866-1930, VAL 2B/2/39B, p.14 4. PRONI Valuation revision books, 1866-1930, VAL 12E/125/1/7 5. PRONI Valuation revision books, 1866-1930, VAL 12B/15/1A, p.163 6. PRONI Valuation revision books, 1866-1930, VAL 12B/15/1C, p.24; 7. PRONI Valuation revision books, 1866-1930, VAL 12B/15/1E 8. PRONI Valuation revision books, 1866-1930, VAL 12B/22/18A, p.311 9. PRONI Valuation revision books, 1866-1930, VAL 12B/22/18B, p.21 Secondary Sources: 10. Irish Builder, vol.15, p.203 (1 August 1873). 11. Information from mill manager (1998).

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation H-. Alterations detracting from building J. Setting

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest V. Authorship

Evaluation

A four- and six-storey red brick mill building in Venetian style. The façade of this brick building, with its unusual style, restrained but interesting embellishment and canal-side setting and the presence of the building as whole are of sufficient interest to merit listing. Its location underlines the importance of the canal in supplying the mill with its raw materials. Its history represents the changing place of these buildings in the commercial life of the town.

General Comments

Includes Belfast Roof Trusses

Date of Survey

24 April 1998