The Dye House

The Dye House is a mill building dating to 1775, later converted into flats in 1968. It is constructed of squared stone with roughly-tooled dressings, except for the top floor which is brick in a Dutch bond pattern. The roof is covered with Welsh slate. The building has three storeys and 14 windows, with each floor slightly recessed. The ground floor has 20th-century openings; the upper floors feature 2-pane casements with slightly-projecting sills, the top-floor windows being set under segmental arches. Coped gables top the structure. Two bays on the left-hand side represent a 1985 extension built to match the original appearance. The rear elevation has similar window arrangements. Originally built as a foundry for tin and iron, it was converted into a woollen mill in 1791 by John Reed and remained in use as such until 1884. In 1915, Ellwood Holmes of Newcastle took over the derelict building to manufacture Hydrate of Alumina, a white pigment previously imported from Germany. A Gilks water turbine in the millrace supplied hydroelectric power, making the mill one of the first business premises in the country to be lit in this way. The factory ceased operations in 1930 after pollution of the river led the Duke of Northumberland to refuse a lease renewal. The building is listed for its historical significance.