Former Office & Stores, Banford Bleach Works, 59A Banbridge Rd, Gilford, Co Down, BT63 6DL

Former Office and Stores, Banford Bleach Works, Gilford

This is a substantial former industrial building incorporating early, mid and late 19th century phases of construction. Originally serving as offices, a lapping room, a brown goods store, a soda ash house, and later a canteen, the eastern section has since been converted to a house while the western section remains unoccupied. The building forms part of the extensive site of what was probably the earliest bleach mill on the River Bann, and is of particular interest as one of the surviving structures in this historically significant complex, retaining its overall form and detailing as an early industrial building with later additions.

Architecture and Appearance

The building is a double-pile, two-storey former industrial block aligned southeast to northwest on the right bank of the River Bann, near Tullylish. It forms part of a mill complex that was once much more extensive but is now greatly reduced. The roof is pitched natural slate with plain bargeboards, rendered chimneys on each gable at both ends, and a small rendered chimney to the rear pitch. Rainwater goods are metal half-round. Walls are cement-rendered random rubble and mass concrete.

Western Section

The western half of the block is double-pile and single-storey over a semi-basement, the basement being visible along the south elevation. The south elevation at basement level has two timber multi-paned windows and two timber doors, each flanked by diminutive segmental-arched recesses. Above these are four large square-headed 6-over-6 timber sliding sash windows with sandstone cills. To the right is a canopied door approached by three granite steps, with a large circular window above. The west gable is double-pitched and contains three 6-over-6 sash windows. The north (rear) elevation is five openings wide: the leftmost opening is blocked up, with the cill remaining; the fourth opening from the left has a four-panel timber door with a square-headed overlight; the remaining openings are 6-over-6 sliding sash windows.

Eastern Section

The eastern half of the block is double-pile and two storeys, now in use as a house. The south elevation at ground floor level has two doors and miscellaneous modern timber casement windows; at first floor level there are five 3-over-6 timber sliding sash windows, all with concrete cills. Tie plates are visible between the ground floor and first floor. The east gable has French doors to the left and is abutted on the right by a single-storey annex with a similarly detailed hipped roof and walls. The north elevation has four equally spaced 3-over-6 timber sliding sash windows at first floor level; at ground floor level, to the left, there is a canopied half-glazed multi-paned door with a 6-over-6 timber sliding sash sidelight to its right, and to the right of these are three 3-over-6 sash windows, the one immediately to the right of the door being paired with its neighbour.

Setting

The building is approached from the Banbridge to Gilford road down a long lane. It sits at the north side of the site, with a garden to the north of the block and the remaining mill buildings and chimney to the south.

Historical Background

The site occupies what was probably the earliest bleach mill on the Bann. Around 1728, John Nicholson installed bleaching equipment and erected a drying house for processing brown linen, with grant aid from the Irish Linen Board. His 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 first Valuation book of 1832 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 Ordnance Survey map of 1833 shows a substantial block of buildings with a pond to the east and three tailraces to the west, surrounded to the north and south by bleach greens.

By 1854, Haughton and Fennell — related by marriage — were engaged in cambric handkerchief bleaching and employed around 70 people on the premises. Around 1860, the Banford Bleach Works Co was established when Daniel Jaffe entered into partnership with Benjamin's son Thomas. The Ordnance Survey map of 1860 shows expansion westward and southward since the 1830s. The Valuation of 1861 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 waterwheel measured 15 feet in diameter by 16 feet wide and was rated at upwards of 40 horsepower; the other was a more conventionally sized 12 feet by 5 feet, rated at up to 12 horsepower. An annual payment of £78 was made to the Bann Reservoir Company for water supplied from Lough Island Reavy.

A site plan of 1867 records further expansion, notably along the west side of the block (preparing rooms) and at its south end, where a chimney, engine house, boiler house and large beetling shed had been added. By 1875, Daniel Jaffe had been succeeded by Martin Jaffe, and the premises were valued at £245. The writer Bassett noted in 1886 that between 1860 and that year some £35,000 had been spent on alterations and additions to the buildings and machinery, with the buildings by then covering nearly two acres and a further 177 acres of bleach green surrounding the site. An American Leffel water turbine had been installed prior to 1875. At the time of Bassett's writing, power was supplied by a 12-foot by 5-foot breastshot waterwheel and the Leffel turbine — apparently 7 feet in diameter — giving a combined output of 100 horsepower, supplemented by three steam engines providing a further 100 horsepower. Around 150 people were employed at that time, only six of them women, and the firm owned 32 workers' houses in the surrounding area.

In 1883, John Edgar bought out Martin Jaffe's interest in the company. The Ordnance Survey maps of 1903–04 and later show only minor changes to the site's configuration, and the valuation fell to £200 in 1891 following an appeal by the owners, remaining constant thereafter until at least 1929 — indicating no major expansion 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 Co. Two Gordon turbines were installed in 1911 and a 24 horsepower Craig turbine in 1934. The works continued to operate until 1957, when a strike forced closure. Three of the buildings were subsequently converted to a house, a restaurant and a pottery. Most of the remaining buildings were still standing, though derelict, in 1991, but many have since been demolished.

The northern pile of the eastern half of this block is shown on the 1833 Ordnance Survey map. By 1867, both piles of the eastern half existed and are recorded as comprising offices, a lapping room, a brown goods store and a soda ash house. The double-pile western half was added sometime before 1903. The south elevation of the eastern half was also rebuilt in mass concrete, possibly at the same time as the western half was constructed.