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

Gilford Mill — Central Block (Building HB17/01/020B)

This is the central block of one of the largest and most historically significant flax spinning mill and thread works complexes surviving in Northern Ireland, situated on the right bank of the Upper Bann at the north-western end of Gilford village in County Down. The complex as a whole is nationally important both as an industrial site and for its close association with the development of the surrounding village, many of whose houses were built by the mill's operators, Dunbar, McMaster & Co. All buildings within this block are currently derelict.

The central block is aligned east–west and has been subdivided, along with the wider complex, into five discrete units. It comprises five distinct sections, described individually below. The earliest parts date from the later 1830s; subsequent additions in brick reflect expansions carried out between approximately 1903 and 1910. The contrast between the rubble-stone construction of the original buildings and the later brickwork is legible throughout, and together they illustrate the mill's growth from its founding through to its early 20th-century peak.

Origins and History

The mill's origins lie in a lease dated 12 February 1835, by which Hugh Dunbar — a linen thread and cloth manufacturer from Huntly, near Banbridge — took a corn and tuck mill a short distance to the east of the present complex from Hugh and Eliza Law, in perpetuity. Dunbar had entered into partnership with William Stewart with the aim of erecting a flax spinning mill at the north-western end of Gilford, and control of the water supply attached to the existing mill was essential to that plan. 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. Both the five-storey spinning mill and a 22-foot diameter by 20-foot wide iron breastshot waterwheel of approximately 90 horsepower are explicitly recorded in the 1837 Ordnance Survey Memoir for Tullylish Parish. The waterwheel may have been designed by the eminent English millwright William Fairbairn. Part of the mill appears to have become operational in 1838, though the complex was not formally opened until November 1841.

William Stewart died in 1837 and was replaced by Robert Thompson, who was subsequently bought out by Dunbar. Dunbar then formed a new partnership with J.W. McMaster of Armagh, and 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. Dunbar died in 1847, and the enterprise was eventually acquired outright by the McMasters. The business was incorporated as a limited liability company in 1886 under the ownership of H. Dunbar McMaster — son of J.W. McMaster — 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 largely reached its present size and layout, with two chimneys indicating the use of steam power alongside water. In 1874, J. Smyth described four condensing steam engines working in tandem with the waterwheel. Coal for the steam boilers was most likely delivered via the Newry Canal, offloaded at Madden Bridge approximately one and a half miles south-west of the village. From 1859, when the Banbridge Junction Railway Company opened the Scarva–Banbridge line, 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, its operators listed as John Walsh McMaster, James Dickson, Benjamin Dickson, William Spolten, and William Robert Massaroan. A fire in 1869 caused £40,000 worth of damage, after which some buildings were rebuilt. By 1888, the mill employed over 1,500 people, many of them living in company-owned 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 notes that a portion of the mill had been burnt and was in the course of being rebuilt. A footprint broadly similar to that of today appears on the 1903 large-scale town map. Valuation entries show the site's assessment rising from £843 to £893 in 1907 and to £1,070 in 1910, reflecting substantial additions during this period — including the raising of some multi-storey mill buildings by a further storey and the provision of stair and toilet stacks. Sometime after 1903, the original waterwheel was replaced by a 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 was subsequently used for small-scale industrial units and a coal yard. Ambitious plans in the 2000s for conversion to apartments, leisure facilities, and shops came to nothing, and the site is now unoccupied.

Building 1 — L-shaped Three-Storey Block (South-East)

This three-storey building dates from the later 1830s. It has a hipped natural slate roof with eight circular metal ridge ventilators, set behind a deep cement-rendered moulded cornice and blocking course. Rainwater from gutters behind the blocking course discharges into cast-iron downpipes. The walls are of random rubble blackstone brought to courses, embellished with stepped, vee-jointed granite quoins. Unless otherwise noted, all openings are flat-headed with brick heads and jambs, and all windows have granite cills. Ground-floor window openings have been sheeted over.

The principal elevation faces south and is twelve openings wide. Three doorways serve the ground floor: two have overlights and have been sheeted over, and the third is an up-and-over panelled timber door supplied by Overhead Doors (Great Britain) Ltd of Back Hilton Road, Aberdeen, set within a three-centred archway leading into the yard to the rear. The upper-floor windows are generally 2/2-paned timber sliding sashes, though some are 5x6-paned top-opening timber frames; all have granite cills.

The west elevation is three openings wide, with all upper-floor windows being 4x6-paned timber frames. The north end of this section is abutted at ground- and first-floor level by Building 2; the exposed section above is of brick.

The east elevation is fourteen openings wide. Granite quoins appear on the upper half of the north end of this elevation, the ground floor and part of the first floor having continued further north before being demolished to make way for Building 3. There are two doors at ground-floor level and two sheeted timber loading doors at first-floor level. Upper-floor windows are generally 5x6-paned top-opening timber frames, with several 2x3-paned metal-framed and 2/2 timber-framed replacements. Cast-metal patress plates are fixed between all openings and at each floor level. The yard elevations of this building were inaccessible and could not be surveyed.

Building 2 — Two-Storey Return (West End of Building 1)

This two-storey return runs northward from the west end of Building 1 and is contemporary with it, dating from the later 1830s. It is seven openings wide at ground-floor level and six at first-floor level. The pitched natural slate roof is missing from its northern half. Vestiges of half-round steel gutters remain but are largely absent; steel downpipes survive. Walls are of random rubble blackstone brought to courses, tied into Building 1, with a brick eaves course and plain quoins at the north end. All openings have flat brick heads and jambs; windows have granite cills. Ground-floor openings are sheeted over. There is a door with a rectangular overlight at the right-hand (south) end. A later window insertion with a concrete head and cill appears at the left (north) end. All first-floor openings contain 4x4-paned top-opening timber frames. The north gable and east elevation were inaccessible and could not be surveyed.

Building 3 — Five-Storey Brick Addition (North-East)

This five-storey red brick building is aligned north–south at the north-eastern end of the block and dates from between 1903 and 1910. It has a pitched natural slate roof with skylights. Walls are of brick throughout, with an advanced eaves course and metal rainwater goods. At ground- and first-floor level the east elevation incorporates the random rubble stone wall of the earlier building it replaced.

The east elevation is five openings wide to the upper floors, with the top-floor openings of diminished height. The three openings at the right (north) end were formerly abutted by a four-storey building, now demolished, as evidenced by ragged wall joints and plastered surfaces. All window openings have flattish brick heads and concrete cills unless otherwise noted. At ground-floor level on the left there is a door with a semicircular overlight, above which are two columns of 2x3-paned top-opening timber windows. At ground-floor right are two large openings with rolled-steel joist heads: one is an infilled window and the other a double-leaf sheeted timber door. Above these are three frameless doorways at first- and second-floor levels that formerly gave access to the now-demolished northern section, along with a single semi-glazed timber door with a 2x1-paned overlight at third-floor level and three 2x3-paned windows at the top floor.

The north gable is three openings wide at upper-floor level. At ground-floor level there is a large 5x3-paned timber window under a rolled-steel joist head; the upper floors each have three 2x3-paned top-opening timber windows. At the right-hand (west) end of this gable are the remains of a toilet stack, now demolished except for part of its ground floor, though the semi-glazed timber access doorways from the main building into it survive. The west elevation was inaccessible and could not be surveyed. The exposed section of the south gable, above the roofline of Building 1, has 2x3-paned windows at its top two floors.

Building 4 — Four-Storey Section (North Side, Aligned East–West)

This four-storey section runs along the north side of the block and dates in its lower three storeys from the later 1830s. It has a pitched natural slate roof with skylights, five circular metal ridge ventilators, and a timber bargeboard to the west gable. Rainwater goods consist of ogee cast-iron gutters and asbestos-cement downpipes.

The lower three floors are of random rubble blackstone brought to courses. The top floor is a later addition of 1903–10 construction in brick, with a moulded brick eaves course; the eaves are raised to a small gable at the east end of the north elevation.

The north elevation is fourteen openings wide. All openings contain windows (sheeted over at ground-floor level) with flat brick heads and granite cills, probably concrete to the top floor. First- and second-floor windows are 2x3-paned metal-framed, while the top floor has 6x6-paned timber frames with a 2x2 central opening panel; several of the latter have been replaced with 2x3-paned metal frames. The eaves gable at the left contains a 2x2-paned window under a rolled-steel joist head.

The west gable is abutted by Building 5. The exposed top-floor section above contains three multi-paned windows (probably 6x6) and a circular window opening at the apex of the gable. The south elevation was only partly visible due to the inaccessibility of the yard in front of it. Loading doors are present at the left (west) end of this elevation at all upper-floor levels, and windows are detailed as on the north elevation. A stairwell formerly located at the east end of this elevation, at the junction with Building 3, has been removed.

Building 5 — Two-Storey over Semi-Basement Return (North-West)

This building runs southward from the west end of Building 4. It appears on the 1903 Ordnance Survey map and is probably of later 19th-century or early 20th-century date. It has a pitched natural slate roof with skylights, raised gables with a blocking course coped in concrete, and metal downpipes serving the roof gutters. Walls are of red brick throughout, with advanced quoins and shallow pilasters at first-floor level along the west elevation. All openings have flat concrete heads and windows have concrete cills.

The north gable is two openings wide, with infilled openings at semi-basement level, two large 3x3-paned top-opening timber windows at ground- and first-floor levels, and a narrow ventilation opening at the apex. The west elevation is five openings wide. It was formerly abutted at ground-floor level by a single-storey flat-roofed section, now demolished, though its concrete floor footprint survives. There are five infilled window openings (one with a door inserted) and a doorway at ground-floor level, with five first-floor windows detailed as on the north gable.

The south gable is two openings wide. At ground-floor level there is a sheeted-over doorway. At first-floor left is a large 4x5-paned timber window with a semicircular brick relieving arch over it incorporating three concrete keystones. At first-floor right is a doorway that formerly gave access to a now-demolished overhead passage connecting to a now-gone extension on the east gable of the adjoining block (HB17/01/020A). The projecting section of the east elevation is slightly advanced and contains a recessed blind panel at ground-floor level and a 4x6-paned timber window at first-floor level. A free-standing chimney that formerly stood in the yard of this block has been demolished.

Setting

The central block sits in the middle of the mill premises, bounded immediately to the east by HB17/01/020C and to the west by HB17/01/020A. To the north, separated from the site by a post-and-wire fence, is a landscaped public park. To the south are the vestiges of the former mill pond. The complex as a whole has considerable group value in relation to the adjoining village of Gilford, a significant proportion of whose housing stock was built by Dunbar, McMaster & Co for their workforce.