Watermill House, Dunadry, Co. Antrim, BT41 2HA

Watermill House at Dunadry is a symmetrical two-storey five-bay former mill building with an attached symmetrical mill-house, built in 1747. The complex has been converted to a dwelling but retains much of its original industrial character. The mill and its associated outbuildings, along with surviving elements such as a sluice gate and canted cast-iron bridge to the south, serve as reminders of nineteenth-century rural industry in the area.

The mill building is rectangular, constructed of random rubble basalt, with the mill-house connected to its south-east corner by a link block containing the entrance and stairway. A flat-roofed two-storey painted brick extension extends to the north-east. The roofs are pitched and slated with brick corbelled eaves.

Windows throughout are timber-framed 6/6 sliding sash with exposed boxes. Reveals feature projecting concrete bands, with segmental-headed openings at ground floor and square-headed openings at first floor, all with brick surround, voussoirs, and masonry sills.

The principal elevation of the mill block faces west and is five windows wide with one window to each level. The first-floor centre window has a semi-circular cast-iron balcony. Below this is an elliptical-arched carriage opening with stone voussoirs, containing a large sliding sash window with flanking sidelights framed by fluted timber mullions and surmounted by a segmental fanlight.

The north gable of the mill features a large segmental-arched recess with brick dressings at first floor. The south gable-end has two square-headed windows to each level with voussoirs only. Here the gable is abutted by a two-storey link containing an elliptical-headed carriage opening with granite quoins and brick voussoirs, accessed by three concrete steps. The opening houses a timber-panelled entrance door flanked by fluted collonettes and latticed sidelights, surmounted by a segmental fanlight. Above this is a window with semi-circular cast-iron balcony.

The mill-house walls are coursed rubble. Its principal elevation faces south and is five windows wide with one window to each level. The central bay contains a timber-panelled entrance door with glazed lights at ground floor, accessed by three semi-circular concrete steps.

The outbuilding to the south is one-and-a-half storey to the north and two-storey to the south due to site topography, with random rubble and rendered walling, pitched slate roof with a gabled dormer to the east pitch and flat-roofed dormer to the west. It has modern timber casement windows.

The outbuilding to the north is five bays with 6/6 sliding sash segmental-headed windows to first floor and three large openings to ground floor. The central opening is segmental-headed with stone voussoirs; the flanking openings are square-headed with brick voussoirs. All have modern timber doors.

The buildings are set to the south of Dunadry Hotel and Country Club, with the mill abutting hotel accommodation to the north. A river runs to the south of the site with a sluice gate, spanned by a canted cast-iron bridge. The house faces an access road with a random rubble wall surmounted by a fence. A pair of circular random rubble gate pillars with coping stands to the north.

Historical Context

According to documentary sources, the paper mill at Dunadry was built in 1747. The 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 marks it as 'Paper mill', at which time the site consisted of a U-plan building to the north and an L-plan building to the south-west. This arrangement remained unchanged throughout the nineteenth century until the site became 'Bleach works', as marked on the 3rd edition Ordnance Survey map of 1902. The 1921 4th edition map shows the Mill and Mill-house with further large buildings to the south and west, now demolished.

The Townland Valuation of 1836 records the mill as owned by Mr Edwin Blow, listed as paper manufacturing with a value of £52 12s 0d. Griffiths Valuation of 1859 lists the property as paper mill and yard, then occupied by Thomas Wallace and James Blow under lease from John Cunningham, valued at £85 0s 0d. The buildings were converted to a dwelling in 1965.