Tullylish Pottery, 59A Banbridge Rd, Gilford, Co Down, BT63 6DL

Tullylish Pottery forms part of a block of three 19th-century mill-related buildings, formerly used as boiling houses and stores, now converted to accommodate a pottery and a restaurant. Built between 1860 and 1879, this two-storey block occupies the northern end of what was, until recently, an extensive group of 19th-century mill buildings, most of which have since been demolished or survive in a derelict, roofless and overgrown state. The complex sits on what was probably the site of the earliest bleach mill on the River Bann, and the block is of particular interest as one of the few surviving building groups within this historically significant industrial complex, retaining much of its original form and detailing as an early industrial structure with later additions.

The block is located off the Banbridge Road, east of Gilford, and comprises three buildings arranged side by side: the eastern building, now the Pot Belly Restaurant; a disused structure in the centre; and the western building, now Tullylish Pottery.

The eastern building is a two-storey, multi-bay structure aligned north to south along the eastern side of the block. It has a pitched natural slate roof, hipped at the northern end, with a slated timber-louvred ridge ventilator at the southern end, now partly clad with corrugated plastic sheeting, and a small cylindrical metal flue on the eastern pitch. Rainwater goods are half-round metal. The walls are of painted brick. The northern gable is three openings wide and is abutted at ground-floor level by a modern timber balcony with a flat felted roof and an open staircase rising from the right. At ground floor, there is a door with a multi-paned timber sidelight to the left and a large sliding timber door to the right; at first floor, a central door is flanked by 12/4-paned timber top-opening windows. The eastern elevation has 12/4 casements to both floors and is partly abutted at ground-floor level by a modern flat-roofed timber addition.

The central building has only its northern elevation visible, all other sides being abutted by adjacent buildings. It has a raised ridge ventilator, a hipped natural slate roof, and louvred timber sides. The gable wall is of painted brick. At ground floor there is a large sliding timber door, and at first floor three 4x4-paned timber windows, all now painted over. A staircase at the front leads to the first floor of the eastern building.

The western building, now Tullylish Pottery, is a two-storey, single-bay structure with a hipped natural slate roof and half-round plastic rainwater goods. The northern elevation is of painted brick and features, at ground floor, a 4x4-paned fixed timber window to the left and a timber half-door with a large multi-paned sidelight to the right; at first floor there are three 4x4 timber square-headed windows. The western elevation is of partly rendered blackstone rubble, with four square-headed 4x4 timber windows to both floors — those at first floor positioned directly above the ground-floor windows — all with brick jambs and segmental brick relieving arches over. The southern gable is abutted at ground-floor level by a derelict single-storey shed with a two-bay sawtooth roof and a segmental arched opening to the left of the western elevation; at first floor the gable is clad with timber and has a large square-headed four-pane window to the apex. The eastern elevation is abutted by the central building.

The block is approached from the Banbridge to Gilford road down a long lane. The former mill office block lies to the north, a partly stone-cobbled car park to the west, overgrown vestiges of mill buildings to the south, and a dried-up and overgrown mill pond to the east.

The site has a rich and well-documented industrial history. Around 1728, John Nicholson, with grant aid from the Irish Linen Board, installed bleaching equipment and erected a drying house for processing brown linen, establishing what was probably the earliest bleach mill on the Bann. John's son Thomas erected Banford House, on the opposite side of the main road, in the 1780s, and two water-powered bleach mills around 1812. Benjamin Haughton acquired the premises in 1815. The 1832 First Valuation book records him operating an extensive bleachworks powered by three waterwheels: one 14 feet in diameter by 5½ feet wide driving two beetling engines; a second 12 feet by 5 feet powering three beetling engines, three sets of rub boards, a starch mill, and four pumps; and a third 12 feet by 4½ feet powering two wash mills. The 1833 Ordnance Survey map shows a substantial block of buildings with a pond to the east, three tailraces to the west, and bleach greens to the north and south.

By 1854, Haughton and Fennell — related by marriage — were engaged in cambric handkerchief bleaching, employing around 70 people. Around 1860, the Banford Bleach Works Company was established when Daniel Jaffe entered into partnership with Benjamin's son Thomas. The 1860 Ordnance Survey map shows expansion westwards and southwards since the 1830s, documented in the 1861 Valuation as wash houses and beetling mills. That valuation itemises 16 buildings within the complex, including a boiling house, three wash mills, a blueing house, and two beetling sheds, with a total rateable valuation of £160. The machinery at that time comprised 15 beetling engines, 8 sets of wash feet, 8 pairs of rubbing boards, two starching machines, and drying and squeezing machines, all driven by two waterwheels and a 16 horsepower high-pressure steam engine. One of the wheels measured 15 feet in diameter by 16 feet wide and was rated at upwards of 40 horsepower; the other was a more conventional 12 feet by 5 feet, rated at up to 12 horsepower. An annual payment of £78 was made to the Bann Reservoir Company for the supply of water from Lough Island Reavy.

A site plan of 1867 records yet further expansion, notably along the western side of the block with new preparing rooms, and at the southern end where a chimney, engine house, boiler house, and a large beetling shed had been added. By 1875, Daniel Jaffe had been succeeded in the partnership by Martin Jaffe, and the premises were valued at £245 — an increase of half as much again on the 1861 rating, reflecting the various phases of expansion. This growth is also noted by Bassett, who recorded that between 1860 and 1886 some £35,000 had been expended on alterations and additions to buildings and machinery. Among the new equipment installed before 1875 was an American Leffel water turbine. In 1883, John Edgar bought out Martin Jaffe's interest in the company.

Writing in 1886, Bassett described the buildings as covering nearly two acres, with a further 177 acres of bleach green. Power was provided by a 12-foot by 5-foot breastshot waterwheel and the aforementioned turbine, apparently 7 feet in diameter, together producing a combined 100 horsepower, supplemented by three steam engines providing a further 100 horsepower. Around 150 people were employed at that time, only six of whom were female, and the firm owned 32 workers' houses in the locality.

The 1903–04 Ordnance Survey map and subsequent maps show only minor changes to the site's configuration. The rateable valuation fell to £200 in 1891 following an appeal by the owners and remained constant thereafter until at least 1929, suggesting that no major expansion took place after the 1860s. Sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century, Messrs Sinton of Tandragee acquired the complex, though it continued to trade as the Banford Bleach Works Company. Two Gordon turbines were installed in 1911, and a 24 horsepower Craig turbine in 1934. The works continued in operation until 1957, when a strike forced closure. Three of the buildings were subsequently converted to a house, restaurant, and pottery respectively. Most of the remaining structures were still standing in 1991, albeit in a derelict state, but many have since been demolished.

Within this block, the eastern building — now the Pot Belly Restaurant — is partly shown on the 1833 Ordnance Survey map. The 1861 Valuation notes it as a single-storey shed and boiling house, while the 1867 schedule records the northern half as a lime house and packing store and the southern half as a new boiling house. It was probably rebuilt in its present two-storey form sometime in the 1860s. The central building is likewise depicted on the 1833 map and described in the 1861 Second Valuation as a mill, though the 1867 schedule accompanying the site plan of that year refers to it as an old boiling house. The western building, now Tullylish Pottery, first appears on the 1903–04 Ordnance Survey map; as it is absent from the 1867 site plan, it must have been erected in the intervening period.