Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB03/12/038

Address :
39 Ballywoolen Road Castlerock Coleraine Co Londonderry BT51 4XF

Townland:
Ballywoolen

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Survey 2:
Record Only

Date of Listing:
08/06/1993 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:
28/09/2015 00:00:00

Current Use:
House

Former Use
Mill

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
Yes

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
12-06

IG Ref:
C7836 3494

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

For descriptive purposes, the building has been sub-divided into four sections, 1-4 (anticlockwise from NW to SE). Section 1 A single-storey, single-bay building at the N end of the block; originally the flax intake room. The topography is such that it is at the mill’s FF level. Its original pitched cement-fibre roof (on steel trusses) has been replaced with natural slates which continue over section 2. Plastic ogee gutters. The rubble masonry walls are now rendered with cement and there is a ‘1943’ date on its N gable. W elevation has a flat-headed roller-shutter garage door. Section 2 This was originally the flax store and was two storeys high, but a single open space internally. A first floor was inserted when converted to a house. It originally had a cement-fibre roof, but this has been replaced with natural slate (continuing across from section 1). Ogee plastic gutters. The rubble stone walls were originally unrendered, but their upper part has since been rendered with cement. There were few openings originally (and none on the upper part), but double-glazed timber-framed windows and new doorways have since been inserted at both levels, all with new red-brick trim to their flat heads and jambs; the window cills are of concrete. The engine room addition at W and open store at E have both been removed. Section 3 This was originally a double-pile single-storey building over a basement cut into the slope at the S end of the block. During conversion to a house, its walls were raised by c.4ft to bring their eaves level with section 2 to create a first floor. Its two original roofs were also combined into a single pitch, the ridge line of which is now significantly higher than before. The original rubble stonework has been retained to the basement, but the upper part is now cement-rendered and new doors and windows have been inserted, again with new brick trim. At the SW corner of this section is an external high-breastshot waterwheel (16ft dia x 5ft wide), the metal axle, hubs and rims of which survive along with the timber arms (two sets of eight); the angled wooden buckets (40 in all) and soleplate have rotted away. A cast-iron segment spur wheel with in-facing teeth is affixed to the inner rim and drives a bull nut mounted on the end of a shaft into the basement. Section 4 The original concrete-block lean-to abutting the E elevation of section 3 has been replaced with an open-sided lean-to. Setting The building lies on the left bank of the Articlave River, from which it was fed by a long mill race (still extant). The ground between the headrace and river has been landscaped as a garden, and the land beyond the headrace is used for grazing. The lands SE and E of the premises are fields, and a minor public road runs along their N side. Roof: Pitched natural slate Rainwater goods: Ogee plastic Walls: Rubble stone and rendered concrete block Windows: Double-glazed timber.

Architects

Historical Information

This mill is first cited on the 1853 OS map as a corn mill. As it is not on the 1830 edition, it must therefore have been built in the intervening period (probably 1840s). The 1856 Valuation book records its tenant as Isaac Duggan Junior who was leasing it from the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers. It is described as “all slated with a very complete set of machinery – elevators, screens, screws, sifters and good waterpower from grindstones, well worth £12 a year”. John McFadden took over from Duggan c.1869, but he vacated it c.1879 and it reverted to Sir Henry Bruce who had acquired it from the Clothworkers in 1872. According to the valuation revision books, the corn mill was converted to flax scutching c.1880. It contained six sets of scutching stocks and a flax breaker. Robert McCarten operated the mill from 1886 to 1890, and was succeeded by Richard Duggan until sometime after 1929. It is explicitly cited as a flax mill on the 1904 and 1922 OS maps. It appears to have been gutted by fire but substantially rebuilt in 1943 to meet the increased demand for flax as a result of World War 2. It seems to have closed by 1950 and lay derelict until converted to the present dwelling house in the mid-1990s. When surveyed in 1992, it had corrugated cement-fibre roofs, rubble masonry walls with concrete-block gable apexes (in place of the original hipped roofs), double-pile single-storey section with basement at its S end, and metal-framed windows throughout. There was a single-storey concrete block shed on its W elevation housing a diesel engine which was an auxiliary to the external waterwheel at SW, and an open-sided concrete-block store at NE. The internal first floor flooring was of shuttered concrete. References – Primary sources: 1. PRONI OS/6/5/3/1. First edition OS six-inch map, Co Londonderry sheet 1 (1830). 2. PRONI OS/6/5/3/2. Second edition OS six-inch map, Co Londonderry sheet 1 (1853). 3. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/5A. Griffith Valuation book (1856). 4. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/3A-G. Valuation revision books (1862–1929). 5. PRONI OS/10/5/3/13/1. First edition OS 25-inch map, Co Londonderry sheet 3-13 (1904). 6. PRONI OS/10/5/3/13/2. Second edition OS 25-inch map, Co Londonderry sheet 3-13 (1922). References – Secondary sources: 1, F.W. Hamond, Ballywoolen Flax Scutching Mill, Castlerock, Co Londonderry. Unpublished typescript for National Trust N. Ireland, 24 Jan 1992. 2. F.W. Hamond, Memo to DOENI Historic Buildings & Monuments Branch, 27 Aug 1992. 3. F.W. Hamond, Memo to DOENI Historic Buildings & Monuments Branch, 6 July 1995.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Not listed

Historic Interest

Not listed

Evaluation

This building was originally constructed pre-1853 as a corn mill. It was converted to flax scutching c.1880 and contained six sets of scutching stocks and a flax breaker. It was severely damaged by a fire and substantially rebuilt in 1943 to meet the increased demand for flax as a result of World War 2. It was closed by 1950 and lay derelict until converted to the present dwelling in the mid-1990s. Prior to this conversion the building had the character of a mid-twentieth century industrial building with little architectural merit. In its current form the Victorian and twentieth century industrial character has mostly been lost and although some of the flax processing machinery remains it does not meet the listing criteria as a building of special architectural or historic interest.

General Comments

Date of Survey

29 April 2013