Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/34/003

Address :
Conway Mill 5-7 Conway Street Belfast BT13 2DE

Townland:
Town Parks/Edenderry

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
17/04/2000 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:
No

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OS Map No:
130/13 SW

IG Ref:
J3245 7430

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Owner Category

Miscellaneous

Exterior Description And Setting

A pair of brick-built flax spinning mills, one of four storeys and the other of five storeys, linked at one end by a group of associated engine houses and boiler house, and at the other end by a short overhead covered passage. Main entrances to the complex face west, to each end of the main front block known as the 'new' mill; standing behind it is the 'old' mill. NEW MILL A five-storey 24-bay brick building facing directly west onto Conway Street, and connected to other buildings at the rear. West elevation: walls of red brick, with parapet roof, but painted over on the ground floor up to window head height; roof hidden from normal view is of modern pressed metal sheeting with parapet gutters. Projecting brick base to ground floor; moulded brick cornices over first and fourth floors, forming continuous window cills to windows of storeys above; moulded brick cornice to top floor surmounted by a plain blocking course and oversailing copings. At the second and third storeys there is a narrow arched recessed panel at the left-hand extremity; and windows are set in recessed panels between double storey brick pilasters which have moulded bases, string courses and cornices. Windows are set in segmental arched openings with plain reveals, except for the third floor where there are raised keystones of painted stone or concrete, linked by a continuous brick drip moulding. Cills are of painted stone or concrete except at ground floor which are of painted cast iron. Windows are of timber with 9-pane divisions, which appear to have consisted of a central 3-pane fixed light with a 3-pane bottom-hung vent above and below it, but are in poor condition where still remaining. Ground floor windows have been partly blocked by steel sheeting over the bottom vent, or have later steel shutters fixed over the bottom vent; three have been partly closed with concrete blockwork; four have been elongated to form later rectangular doorways, partly dressed in smooth cement render. First floor windows have all been blocked up. Second floor windows are mostly intact but some glazing bars removed. Third floor windows have been blocked up or have been temporarily closed with plastic sheeting. Fourth floor windows have all been blocked up except one lying open. Doorways contain, from right to left: a pair of glazed modern doors; a pair of modern ledged pine doors behind a modern steel shutter; a pair of steel sheeted doors; a pair of modern flush timber doors with small glazed panels. At the second and third window bays from the end there is a large vehicular opening, original, segmental arched, with a rendered keyblock; moulded stop-chamfered reveals to jambs; conical cast iron wheel guards, without maker's inscription, at each side. Opening contains a moulded timber frieze and cornice, now fire damaged, surmounted by a fanlight which is blocked by brickwork; damaged steel shutter door framing is inset; opening closed by a pair of steel security gates. The entry within the opening leads through to the rear yard: side walls within opening are of plain brickwork; south side contains a large vehicular opening closed with a modern steel shutter. Ceiling is three bays of brick jack arches linked by tie rods. Small derelict brick walled chamber in corner to contain a valve house. Large rectangular opening in rear wall, leading directly to yard; rounded jambs, with a deep steel girder over. South elevation: comprises the end elevation of the main mill block, five windows wide, with the stairwell set back slightly to the right, two windows wide. Mill walling is of white glazed brick with red brick quoins to left-hand extremity of ground and first floor, returning from west elevation, and a red brick border of the west elevation appearing set back slightly at the left-hand extremity of the top three floors; moulded cornices and string courses with keystones and pilaster strips, all as previous to west elevation but without a moulded plinth; there are sockets and breaks in the cornices to accommodate downpipes, but downpipes now missing. Windows are as previous to west elevation; third window opening from left on top floor is blind, closed with white glazed brick, an original feature. Fourth window opening from left on ground floor has been elongated, with the top portion closed with concrete blockwork, and a steel beam inserted to form a later doorway, containing a pair of modern rectangular glazed timber doors set in a tongued and grooved sheeted surround, in cement rendered reveals with a steel shutter outer door. Cast iron cills to ground floor; stone cills to upper floors. Stairwell walling is of plain white glazed brick unembellished, except for plain oversailing coping to parapet. Windows are similar to main mill block, with those on ground floor blocked with white painted smooth cement render, and those on 1st floor boarded up. Cast iron cills to ground floor; stone cills to upper floors. East elevation: comprises main east wall of mill, 12 windows wide, with the stairwell projecting forward at the left-hand extremity and the end bays of the main wall set back at the right-hand extremity. Walling is of plain white glazed brickwork without plinth or mouldings. Downpipes now missing. Projecting from the ground and first floor are two derelict toilet stacks, originally full height as evidenced by wall markings above; comprise original narrow projecting rectangular bays in white glazed brick, the one to the south extended to one side in modern concrete brickwork, the one to the north incorporating an iron framed extension to one side; cast iron downpipes to each toilet block. Windows to main wall are as previous to west elevation; those on ground floor are blocked with concrete blockwork; those on 1st floor are covered over with corrugated iron; some of those on upper floors are lying completely open. East wall of stairwell is of plain white glazed brickwork, with corner to north chamfered, and a conical cast iron wheel protector at the base. Ground floor contains a doorway, segmental arched with rounded edge to head; contains a pair of modern steel grille gates set in steel covers to reveals to each side. Above is one window to each landing; windows similar to previous, but the one at the 2nd floor has been broken out to accommodate a short enclosed link inclined up from the adjacent 'old' mill. Link has a reinforced concrete slab floor, red brick side walls, each containing a glass-bricked window, and corrugated sheet roof. North side of stairwell is of similar white glazed brickwork; contains one window to each half-landing, as previous but smaller than to main elevations; the one to ground floor is boarded up and has a cast iron cill; cills to upper levels are of stone. The thirteenth bay of the main wall to the right of the stairwell angles back, and contains one window to each floor; to right beyond a short end wall, is a derelict set-back bay, glazed at the top two floors with timber fixed lights, but lying open below that; contains iron framed landings with ladder access. To the right projects the three-storey boiler house in red brick. East elevation of main mill block to north end beyond set-back: ground and 1st and 2nd floor of first six window bays to right are abutted by the boiler house. Walling of red brick with parapet to top. Windows are segmental arched, timber framed, as previous, but those to 3rd and 4th floors closed with concrete blockwork. Wall shows markings of a previous fire escape stairway at the last two bays from the north, now removed. Third bay from north end has a small toilet projection at 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor levels, of poor quality construction. North elevation is a plain red brick wall with parapet at top; wall later cracked but later strengthened by modern tie bars; one small crudely formed opening created in wall at high level. OLD MILL A four-storey, 15-bay brick building standing parallel to, and to the rear of, the 'new' mill, with a lower engine house projecting forward at one end and an entrance bay and stairwell set back slightly at the other end. Main entrance faces west. West elevation of main block: roof of Bangor blue slates in regular courses, with seven flush rooflights, two original 3-pane, the rest reglazed with single panes. At the left-hand extremity is a small gabled dormer with slated roof, gablet, and slate-hung checks, and a tongued and grooved sheeted rectangular timber door to the front. PVC gutters and downpipes to main block. Wall of red brickwork, with painted rhyolite quoins to the right-hand extremity; brickwork later whitened to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors, and rendered with a wet dash to the ground floor; render spalling in places. There are rectangular cast iron tie-beam cramps set between most windows on the 1st and 2nd floors. Steel framed fire escape stairway with cast iron steps and old tubular metal railings at 2nd bay from left with original window openings partly blocked with render to accommodate modern flush timber doors. Windows to upper floors are rectangular timber 9-pane, comprising a lower 6-pane fixed light, surmounted by a 3-pane opening top light, set in plain reveals with flat brick arches to heads and projecting stone cills. Ground floor retains two windows; other openings either blocked and rendered over or enlarged to form doorways; windows contain modern replacement timber fixed lights with a central opening vent, with cills cut back flush with wall. Ground floor contains four doorways, from left to right: a pair of flush timber doors recessed in smooth rendered reveals; a pair of steel plated doors set in a steel frame surmounted by concrete blockwork filling top of original window; a pair of modern flush timber doors set in a broad timber surround in smooth rendered reveals, with a steel shutter door attached over; a pair of iron plated doors recessed in smooth rendered reveals. Extending to the right-hand extremity and set back slightly is a five-storey flat-roofed entrance bay in the corner with the circular stairwell which projects from the south gable; entrance bay and stairwell project above the main mill block. Wall of red brick with projecting brick dentil cornice to the top surmounted by a smooth cement rendered blocking course; ground floor later partly rendered with a wet dash, with a smooth rendered plinth. Ground floor contains a doorway: comprises a pair of modern panelled doors set in a steel frame, in smooth rendered reveals. One window to each floor above, rectangular timber, set in plain reveals with brick flat arch heads and projecting stone cills; window to 1st floor retains a top sash of 6 panes, with horns, but lower sash boarded up. Window to 2nd floor has been broken out to accommodate the inclined overhead link passage to the 'new' mill. Windows to 3rd and 4th floors are 6-pane fixed lights surmounted by a 3-pane opening top light. South elevation of main mill block is mostly obscured by the projecting stairwell and entrance bay, but quoins are revealed at left-hand extremity, with a blank red brick gable to the right of the stairwell. Stairwell is curved to the front: wall of red brick with brick dentil cornice as previous to the corner bay to left, part of ground floor rendered with wet dash. One large window to each half-landing with a smaller one to the top level. The lower two windows are canted timber 6-pane fixed two-light replacements; the third window from the bottom is small-paned and curved in line with the wall; the top one is a rectangular timber 6-pane fixed light with 3-pane opening top vent. All windows are set in plain reveals with brick flat arches, with lower two rebuilt. Cills are of stone curved in line with the wall; bottom one fractured. Below the bottom window, set in the rendered portion of the wall is a small rectangular tongued and grooved timber sheeted hatch door in a timber surround. Surmounting the curved stairwell, and set back slightly, is a curved addition in newer red brick which houses the lift mechanism. To the left is the rectangular corner bay, of red brick with brick dentil cornice to top, and rendered wet dash to part of ground floor; looks like a later addition as brickwork not tied in with the curved stairwell. PVC downpipe. One window to each floor: rectangular timber set in plain reveals with brick flat arches and projecting stone cills; except the one to the ground floor which is set in plain reveals and without cill and contains a modern metal fixed light casement, and top-hung vent. Windows to 1st and 2nd floor are rectangular timber sliding sash, 6 over 6 originally, with horns, but the lower sash to the 1st floor has been replaced by two panes. Windows to the two top levels are smaller, and contain 6-pane fixed lights with 3-pane bottom-hung top lights, opening in. All windows set in plain reveals with brick flat arches and stone cills as previous. The east side of the stairwell contains four windows one to each level above ground floor, set in similar openings to previous: window to 1st floor is a later 9-pane timber fixed light; windows to 2nd and 3rd floors are multi-paned fixed lights with similar paned opening top lights; window to 4th floor is a 6-pane fixed light, with the original 3-pane opening top vent now missing. East elevation of main mill block: of similar character to west elevation: roof slated as previous; PVC rainwater goods. Walling of red brick with quoins to right-hand extremity; portions of the ground floor have been lime-washed; portions have been rendered with a dry dash of white limestone chippings, and parts smooth cement rendered. There are rectangular cast iron tie rod clamps between windows on the 1st and 2nd floors. Cast iron soil pipes. At the 5th bay from the left is a later full-height projecting toilet stack, added in 1904, comprised of brick front and side wall to right, of red and yellow chequerwork patterning in patches, with a steel framed bay to one side, filled with panelling (originally specified as slate slabs) and corrugated perspex, standing on a concrete plinth. Windows to main wall are as previous to the west elevation; some to the top floor have reveals rebuilt in new red brick. Two windows to 1st floor have been shortened, later blocked up with brickwork to the bottom. Some ground floor windows have been blocked up and smooth rendered, some containing smaller modern rectangular timber fixed lights, and some elongated to accommodate modern rectangular doorways which contain steel shutters or modern timber doors. The 4th, 5th and 6th openings from the right-hand end have large semi-circular arches, with projecting stone cills but openings now bricked up to contain smaller windows. North gable of main mill block is partly obscured by a later canted engine house projecting from it. Main gable is of brickwork with rusticated quoins to left-hand extremity, but unquoined at the base. Cast iron soil pipes. Two circular cast iron tie bar cramps. Wall contains three original flat arched openings later bricked up, with one stone cill still projecting. Original ground floor window opening elongated to accommodate a modern rectangular doorway containing a steel plated door set in smooth rendered reveals with modern concrete lintel. NEW ENGINE HOUSE A three-storey red brick building with a four-storey elevation, with a canted face to the north-east corner, projecting from the north gable of the 'old' mill, built in the angle between it and the original engine room. Roof of Bangor blue slates in regular courses; walls of plain red brick, with parapeted gables coped with sandstone. Entrance faces east. East elevation: PVC downpipe; ground floor contains a small doorway with brick flat arch, containing a modern steel plated door, surmounted by a small projecting cast iron landing from a doorscreen above. Doorscreen now partly boarded up with plywood panels but originally had a glazed fanlight and panelled side lights, parts still visible. Door head is of brickwork supported on an iron flat, rendered over but spalling. Two large windows above, one to each level: rectangular timber small-paned fixed lights with plain reveals, rendered lintels, and projecting concrete cills. Canted wall on north-east corner has an asymmetrical gable, with a shaped sandstone kneeler to the left, and sandstone coping; the wall breaks forward at the right-hand extremity with a narrow pier above a broader canted projection. Two windows to each of the three upper levels; ground floor area blank. Windows are rectangular timber fixed lights with bottom-hung top vent, 3 over 6, except where reglazed; 1st floor windows partly boarded up; all set in plain reveals with brick flat arches and concrete cills. North elevation: four-storey, one window wide, with brickwork tied into that of the original engine house to the right. Raking parapet gable to top with shaped sandstone kneeler to right; sandstone copings. Some blue brickwork to lower storeys. Ground floor contains a rectangular doorway with concrete lintel, now blocked with concrete blockwork. 1st floor contains a large pair of derelict rectangular timber glazed and sheeted doors, set in rendered reveals with rendered lintel all in poor condition. 2nd and 3rd floor windows are similar to those on canted north-east face. A steel girder projects from the wall above the 2nd floor window. West elevation: plain red brick walling extending above the height of the adjoining original engine house. Looks like PVC guttering. ORIGINAL ENGINE HOUSE A brick building with a three-storey elevation with a narrow frontage to north and south, projecting from the north end of the west wall of the old mill and abutted to one side by the new engine house and to the other side by the boiler house. Entrance faces north. North elevation: of red brick with a deep moulded stone cornice surmounted by a blocking course; wall to the left is keyed in blocks into the newer brickwork of the new engine house. Water tank on flat roof behind parapets. Ground floor contains a small rectangular doorway now closed with concrete blockwork. Above is a tall semi-circular arched window surmounting a doorscreen which leads on to a steel platform, supported on a stanchion and brackets, with tubular railings. Window opening comprised of a four-course arch of brick headers; contains a semi-circular headed timber multi-paned window with radial lights to top, and horizontally pivoting lights to the bottom, all now derelict. Doorscreen contains a rectangular timber panelled and glazed door with arched heads, flanked by similar side lights. Large cast iron downpipe. South elevation: three-storey; walling of red brick, partly whitened, with rusticated painted rhyolite quoins to the left-hand extremity, and deep moulded stone or rendered cornice. Small ground floor opening now closed with concrete blockwork. Above it in 1st floor is a large tall semi-circular arched opening comprising a four-course arch of brick headers, now closed with concrete blockwork. In top floor is a rectangular opening with brick flat arch, now closed with concrete blockwork. Attached across the south elevation is a later steel and cast iron fire escape stairway. The stairway continues on up to give access to the roof. The quoins and cornice return to the short west face which contains a tall full-height opening containing derelict recessed timber fixed lights. THE BOILER HOUSE A three-storey, three-bay building abutted on one side by the original engine house and on the other side by the new mill. Main entrance faces north. North elevation: hipped roof of Bangor blue slates in regular courses, with a coating of tar over them; dark toned tiles to ridges; surmounting the roof is a timber ventilator with metal sheet roof covering. Wall of plain brickwork with projecting eaves course. PVC gutter and PVC downpipe to right-hand extremity; cast iron downpipe to left. A deep steel joist runs across the ground floor supported on angled brackets on end posts; the inset ground floor area is filled with brick and contains rectangular openings, two blocked with concrete blockwork and one with a steel mesh grill; modern steel plated door to left. Three windows to each of the two upper floors: rectangular timber two-paned fixed lights with a top-hung vent, all broken set in plain reveals with brick flat arches and projecting stone cills. East elevation: plain brickwork containing a rectangular doorway at 1st floor level, with rendered or stone lintel, leading on to a steel framed platform connecting with the original engine house; door missing. PVC gutter. Rising up behind the boiler house is a taller later block faced in asbestos panels, painted, with cast iron guttering. Contains a row of rectangular windows at the top level, level with the 3rd storey of the new mill; modern timber fixed light windows, in poor condition. South elevation: a tall plain modern red brick wall with a recessed opening to the ground floor where a deep full-width iron girder is supported on a brick pier and a single circular cast iron column with four flanges to the top. Walls within recess are of brickwork. Small rectangular doorway to right-hand side with door missing. A former additional building attached to this wall has now gone leaving only the raking steel joist above. SETTING The complex stands in a built-up area of the city, situated on the east side of Conway Street, a short distance from the junction with Falls Road. There is a modern office site to the south, an open area to the north currently surrounded by high metal security fencing, and a modern urban residential area to the west on the other side of the street. The new mill faces directly on to the pavement with the main gateway to the site adjoining it at the south gable. The gateway comprises a vehicular entrance, with a small pedestrian gateway alongside: modern red brick piers, modern steel gates, and modern steel front boundary railings on red brick walls extending to the south. The gateway leads into a side yard, with concrete and tarmac surface. Immediately inside the vehicular gateway is the cast iron surround of a weighbridge inscribed 'Avery, Birmingham, England' still visible in the yard surface. Side yard leads to a narrow enclosed yard between the two mills, surfaced in cement screed, and also to a rear yard on the south side, with similar surface, which is connected to another rear yard on the north side by a pedestrian passage only, immediately to the rear of the 'old' mill. In the rear yard to the south area a single storey, a two-storey, and a three-storey building, all conjoined, of no special architectural interest. The two-storey block to the south is of concrete brickwork; the two-storey block to the east is rendered with a dry dash and imitation half-timbering in smooth render, and the single storey block is similar. In the rear yard to the north the boundary to the north is formed by high metal security fencing. Along the north-east side of the yard, to the rear of the 'old' mill stand two two-storey buildings comprising a gabled and slated red brick building of plain character with modern windows, fixed lights and top-hung vents, with a later red brick lean-to block on its south side, with corrugated roof. A two-storey red brick building stands to the south of that: semi-circular arched openings to west wall but some openings altered and partly blocked with brickwork; brick jack arches to ground floor.

Architects

Stevenson, Samuel

Historical Information

The precise date the mill complex was established is uncertain but it appears to date from the early 1840s when its owners, the Kennedy family, were recorded as 'flax spinners' at Millvale, Falls Road although the firm owned several buildings in the vicinity of the present complex, and the precise location of Millvale is unclear. Conway Street is referred to for the first time in 'Henderson's New Belfast Directory' of 1843 as the address for James Kennedy & Son, Flax Spinners. The Conway Mill complex was shown in a fully developed form on the large scale OS map of 1858 with a 'linen weaving factory' to the front and 'flax spinning mill' to the rear. This included what is now known as the old mill, the original engine house, and probably also included the present boiler house, as well as smaller buildings standing to the rear of the old mill, within the present rear yard to the south end, and a tall octagonal chimney which has now been demolished. A new engine house was added to the north end of the original mill in 1891, and in 1907 a new 5-storey spinning mill was built to replace the old factory in front of the original mill, facing onto Conway Street, both to the designs of Samuel Stevenson, architect. Toilets were added to the east elevation of the old mill in 1904; architect not known. Spinning and weaving operations ceased c 1970, following which the Conway Mill complex, which was extended to embrace several buildings which formerly belonged to an adjoining mill to the east in North Howard Street, was sub-divided into units to be let for community and commercial use. A 2-storey office block formerly occupied the south corner of the site, next to Conway Street, but it has now been demolished. References – Primary Sources 1. OS Map 1832-3, Co Antrim 60 (nothing shown on site). 2. OS Map 1858, Co Antrim 60 (site shown developed). 3. OS Map 1938, Co Antrim 60. 4. OS Map 1858, Belfast 28 (a large scale map which shows a 'Flax Spinning Mill' behind a 'Linen Weaving Factory'). 5. OS Map 1872, Belfast 28 (a large scale map which shows a 'Flax Spinning Mill' behind a 'Linen Weaving Factory'). 6. OS Plan 130-13 (1958-9). 7. OS Plan 130-13SW (1987). 8. Martin's Belfast Directory, 1841 (records James Kennedy, flax spinner, Falls Road). 9. Martin's Belfast Directory, 1842 (records James Kennedy & Son, flax spinners, Millvale, Falls Road). 10. Henderson's New Belfast Directory, 1843 (records James Kennedy & Son, flax spinners, Conway Street, Falls Road). 11. Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1852 (records James Kennedy & Son, flax and tow spinners, Millvale, Falls Road, and also refers to Kennedy's Mill Buildings, Conway Street). 12. Original drawings in Building Control Office, Belfast City Hall: 1891, by S. Stevenson, for a new engine house and addition to the north end of the mill, behind the factory, for the Falls Flax Spinning Co Ltd. 1904, unsigned, for toilets added to the east side of the old mill. 1907, by S. Stevenson, for a new 5-storey spinning mill (to replace the factory) in front of the old mill, facing onto Conway Street. Secondary Sources 1. IHR 10377.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion D. Plan Form F. Structural System H-. Alterations detracting from building I. Quality and survival of Interior

Historic Interest

V. Authorship X. Local Interest X. Local Interest V. Authorship

Evaluation

A19th and early 20th century flax spinning mill complex comprising two mills and other buildings. They retain their overall exterior form as well as a number of original interior features, and together with associated elements form part of an interesting group. The complex is now an uncommon relic of the great age of local industry associated with the textile trade.

General Comments

Date of Survey

28 December 2000