Main Block, Gilford Mill, Ann Street-, Gilford, Craigavon, Co Down, BT63 6HX

Gilford Mill — Main Block (Flax Spinning Mill, Turbine House and Generator House)

This is one of the largest surviving flax spinning mill complexes in Northern Ireland, and one of the few in the province that also produced thread. The main block, situated on the right bank of the Upper Bann at the north-western end of Gilford village, consists of three interconnected structures: the former flax spinning mill itself (mid-1830s), an abutting turbine house (mid-1830s), and a generator house (probably mid-1910s). The complex as a whole is of national importance for industrial archaeology, and has considerable group value with the adjoining village, a large proportion of whose houses were built by the mill's owners, Dunbar, McMaster & Co.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The story of the mill begins on 12 February 1835, when Hugh Dunbar — a linen thread and cloth manufacturer from Huntly, near Banbridge — leased a corn and tuck mill a short distance east of the present complex in perpetuity from Hugh and Eliza Law. Dunbar had formed a partnership with William Stewart with the intention of erecting a flax spinning mill at the north-western end of Gilford, and acquiring the corn and tuck mill gave them control of the necessary water supply. Construction of the new complex began in 1836 and encompassed a five-storey flax spinning mill on the right bank of the river, a handloom weaving factory on the opposite bank, and workers' housing. The 1837 Ordnance Survey Memoir explicitly records both the five-storey spinning mill and a 22-foot diameter by 20-foot wide iron breastshot waterwheel of approximately 90 horsepower; the wheel may have been designed by the eminent English millwright William Fairbairn. Part of the mill became operational in 1838, though the complex was not formally opened until November 1841.

William Stewart died in 1837 and was replaced by Robert Thompson. Dunbar subsequently bought Thompson out and entered into a new partnership with J. W. McMaster of Armagh; James Dickson became a third partner in 1839. By 1843, flax spinning and bleaching were being carried on under the name Dunbar, Dickson & Co., and thread production under Dunbar, McMaster & Co. After Dunbar's death in 1847, the enterprise was eventually acquired outright by the McMasters and incorporated as a limited liability company in 1886 under H. Dunbar McMaster (son of J. W.) and his six brothers.

By 1846 the factory was described as "the largest, or certainly one of the largest, of the flax-spinning factories in Ireland." A large-scale map of 1860 shows the complex had broadly taken its present form, and two chimneys indicate that steam power was in use alongside water. By 1874, J. Smyth records four condensing steam engines working in tandem with the waterwheel. Coal for the steam boilers was probably off-loaded from the Newry Canal at Madden Bridge, approximately one and a half miles south-west of the village; from 1859 onwards, following the opening of the Scarva–Banbridge railway line by the Banbridge Junction Railway Company, there was also a railway halt at Lawrencetown. The 1861 Valuation Book describes the premises as "Gilford flax spinning mill, thread manufactory and yard," with a rateable valuation of £840, and lists the operators as John Walsh McMaster, James Dickson, Benjamin Dickson, William Spolten and William Robert Massaroan.

A fire in 1869 caused £40,000 worth of damage and some buildings were subsequently rebuilt. By 1888 the mill employed over 1,500 people, many living in company houses nearby, and water and steam power together drove 16,000 spindles for spinning yarn and a further 4,000 for twisting spun yarn into thread, which was exported worldwide. In 1891 the site was described as one of the largest thread manufactories in the United Kingdom, with a weekly production of 75,000 miles of yarn and thread, both bleached and unbleached.

The 1902 Valuation revision records that part of the mill had been burnt and was being rebuilt. Valuation figures rising from £843 in 1907 to £893 and then £1,070 in 1910 indicate substantial additions during this period, including the raising of the multi-storey mill buildings — including the main block — by one additional storey, and the construction of stair and toilet stacks. Sometime after 1903, the original waterwheel was replaced by the present water turbine and an electricity generating house was erected beside the turbine house; valuation notebooks suggest this occurred around 1913 or shortly afterwards.

Yarn and thread production continued until approximately 1986, when the mill closed. Part of the site subsequently housed small-scale industrial units and a coal yard. Ambitious plans for conversion into an apartment, leisure and shopping complex were drawn up in the 2000s but came to nothing, and the site was unoccupied at the time of survey.

THE FLAX SPINNING MILL

The mill is a six-storey, 27-bay building dating from the mid-1830s. It was unoccupied but in fair condition at the time of survey. The roof was reslated relatively recently as part of the aborted apartment development and is now a hipped natural slate roof with continuous skylights to both the front and rear pitches. Rainwater goods are plastic downpipes.

All floors except the top are constructed in random rubble blackstone brought to courses, with stepped, vee-jointed granite quoins as embellishment. All window openings to these floors are vertically aligned one above the other; they have flattish red brick heads and stepped red brick jambs, with granite cills throughout. Window frames have been removed from most floors, with the exception of the fourth floor, which retains what may be original 2-over-3-paned metal-framed windows (with a 2-over-1-paned opening middle panel). All ground-floor window openings have been sheeted over with plywood for security.

The top storey is a later addition in red brick, probably dating from the period 1903–1910, and is distinguished by yellow brick trim to its quoins, a string course running along the wall head of the floor below, and corbelled eaves with a moulded rendered blocking course above. Originally both the front and rear elevations of this top floor had small square windows above alternate windows on the floor below. When the top floor was partly converted into apartments in the recent past, larger openings were inserted between these windows on the south elevation to accommodate timber French windows; for safety reasons, the exits from these French windows are now blocked by sheets of glass fixed to the outside face of the wall. 2-over-2 top-opening uPVC windows were inserted into the original window openings.

South (Principal) Elevation

The principal elevation faces south and is 27 bays wide. Timber doors are present at ground-floor and first-floor level on the second bay from the left (west) end; the first-floor door is accessed by a ramp up from ground level.

The 17th column of openings was formerly abutted by a toilet stack — a later addition since removed — and the section of wall it abutted has been rendered over with cement. There would have been a doorway from the mill into the stack at each level; only the ground-floor doorway has been retained, having been inserted into an original window opening with a flat concrete head.

The 19th column of openings is abutted by a projecting eight-stage brick goods hoist stack that rises above the eaves. Originally only seven stages high — with the top stage housing the hoist motor — the stack was raised by a further stage when the mill gained its additional floor, and the seventh stage was largely rebuilt at the same time, as is evident in the fresher brickwork of these two uppermost stages. The stack has advanced brick quoins, and each stage is delineated by a concrete string course (moulded on the top two stages). Originally there was a 2-over-3-paned metal-framed window to each of the bottom five stages. The window to the first stage has been replaced with a lift door set in an enlarged opening. The window openings to the second, third and fourth stages have been infilled with concrete blocks, but the fifth stage retains its 2-over-3-paned metal-framed window. The sixth stage has a 3-over-3-paned circular timber window with concrete keystones at the cardinal points. The top two stages are blank, and the uppermost stage has corbelled brick eaves around a flat concrete roof. The top of the stack extends rearward to a raised pitched brick section over the mill roof, probably to give access to it. Both cheeks of the stack are blank.

The 20th ground-floor opening contains a double-leaf timber door with a 6-over-2-paned timber overlight, which originally led into the staircase serving all upper floors.

North Elevation

The north elevation is also 27 bays wide, with all openings in line with those on the front. The eighth bay from the left (east) end was formerly abutted by a toilet stack, now removed and indicated only by wall rendering and infilled doorways at each floor level. The 23rd bay at ground floor has a metal roller shutter under an RSJ head, inserted into an original window opening. The 27th bay has a sheeted-over doorway with overlight.

East Gable

Wall markings on the east elevation indicate that it was formerly largely abutted, at all floors, by a now-demolished addition. Most ground-floor and top-floor surfaces are cement rendered, and a modern flat-headed doorway has been inserted at ground-floor level. On each of the intermediate floors there is a cast-iron bearing housing, all now infilled with brick, suggesting there was possibly a rope drive running up this end of the mill. There are also brick-infilled roundels at third and fourth floor level, and two small windows to the top floor.

West Gable

The west gable was formerly abutted on the left by a toilet stack running its full height, now removed and again indicated only by wall rendering and infilled access doorways at each level. The remainder of the ground floor is abutted by the turbine house. Two 2-over-3-paned metal-framed windows survive at fourth-floor level, and a small 2-over-2 top-opening uPVC window at top-floor level.

THE TURBINE HOUSE

This single-storey, single-bay building abuts the west gable of the mill and dates from the mid-1830s. It now houses a water turbine — of particular technical note given its intact survival — but formerly accommodated the original 20-foot diameter by 22-foot wide iron breastshot waterwheel, of which no trace remains. The building is now very derelict: the hipped natural slate roof has largely collapsed and all rainwater goods are missing. The walls are of random rubble blackstone, now ruinous along their wall heads, and have stepped, vee-jointed granite quoins at the west end. All openings have flattish red brick heads and jambs. The north elevation contains a window opening (frame missing) and a sheeted-over door. The south elevation has a large opening, now inaccessible due to vegetation overgrowth. Both the headrace from the mill pond and the tailrace returning to the river are culverted on either side of the building.

THE GENERATOR HOUSE

This single-storey building abuts the west gable of the turbine house and is now derelict; it probably dates from the mid-1910s. It has a monopitched corrugated metal roof sloping down to the west, with no rainwater goods. The walls are of red brick with moulded concrete copings and a blocking course to the north elevation.

The north elevation has two timber door openings in shallow segmental-headed openings (one glazed and set within an advanced wall panel), both now sheeted over. The left half of the west elevation projects forward and contains two 3-over-1-paned timber windows with concrete cills, and an infilled doorway to its right cheek. The set-back section of the west elevation has an infilled doorway and a 6-over-6-paned metal-framed window at the right with a cement-rendered cill. The south elevation is largely obscured by a raised earth bank. Just beyond the generator house is an operational electrical substation enclosed by a corrugated metal fence; a second substation formerly stood to its south but has been removed.

SETTING

The main block sits at the south-western corner of the mill premises. To its immediate east, north, and north-west are other units within the same complex. To the south, behind an earth and stone embankment, lies the former mill pond that supplied both the waterwheel and the turbine; the pond is now partially infilled and overgrown. It was originally fed by a one-and-a-half-mile-long headrace drawing water from two weirs across the river.