Former Mill and Wheel, 26 Burnside Road, Snipe Island, Dunadry, Co Antrim, BT41 2HZ

A former two-storey mill dating from around 1800, now converted to a house. The building is situated on the east side of Burnside Road at Snipe Island, Dunadry, on a secluded site surrounded by mature trees. The Rathmore Burn tributary flows directly to the west, with a tree-lined access lane and mill race set parallel, and a sluice gate positioned at the northern end.

The main building is rectangular on plan, facing south, with a two-storey addition to the rear. It is constructed of coursed basalt rubble with a pitched natural slate roof and blue and black angled clay ridge tiles. A basalt rubble chimney rises from the west gable. Half-round cast-iron rainwater goods are fitted throughout.

The south elevation is six windows wide at first floor level. Windows have camber-arched brick heads. Those to the first floor are replacement square-headed tri-partite timber and aluminium casements; ground floor openings include timber French doors to the left and right of centre and to the left side, with 3/3 or 6/6 sash windows to the remainder. Sills are leaded. All but one window (that to the right of centre) has a corresponding opening at ground floor level. The west gable is blank. The north elevation is abutted on the left by a two-storey extension of sympathetic but modern appearance. The exposed right section has three windows to the first floor matching those on the south elevation. Ground floor has a former door opening to the right, infilled with a multi-pane timber window with slate hung apron, and a sash window to its left. The east gable is blank.

The two-storey rear addition is L-shaped with a pitched natural slate roof catsliding over a projecting single storey section. The walling is painted brick. Windows follow the same detailing as the main block with square-headed openings. The principal entrance is located on the west elevation, consisting of an elliptical-headed ten-panel Georgian door with fanlight and a camber-headed window above.

The most significant feature is the restored breastshot waterwheel adjacent to the east gable, which remains in its original position. The wheel is of timber construction with cast-iron perimeter wheels, spokes and floatboards. A smaller diameter grooved wheel is affixed to its west face. The foundry mark is illegible. The wheel is a good example of its type and greatly enhances the mill's survival value.

The conversion to residential use has been carried out sympathetically, with external configuration retained. The site also includes an ivy-covered chimney to the north, surrounded by trees, and the remains of a coursed rubble stone outbuilding (roofless) to the north side of the access lane.

Historical records show that a small building appeared on the site on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833, with two further buildings marked to the north. The second edition map of 1857 identifies the southernmost building as a Bleach Mill, later recorded as a Beetling Mill on the 1925 map. Townland Valuation records from 1837 name Thomas Marshall as owner of a house with offices and return, valued at £5 19 shillings 10 pence. Griffiths Valuation of 1859 identifies Robert Dill as occupier of the Beetling Mill, offices and land, with William J.C. Allen as immediate lessor. The buildings were valued at £5, with working parts valued at £13. The valuer's note indicates that six engines worked on average about 22 hours a day for 8 months in the year, though the mill was not operational at the time of valuation. The mill was photographed by W.A. McCutcheon and included in his 1980 publication "The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland". The former mill survives as a remnant of the intensive early industrial activity that was concentrated in this area of County Antrim.