Blackstaff Mill, 77-129 Springfield Rd, Belfast, Co Antrim, BT12 7AE

Blackstaff Mill, 77–129 Springfield Road, Belfast

Significance and Character

Although utilitarian in design, this mill complex is of considerable architectural interest because of its scale, massing, and embellished brickwork, all of which are characteristic of later 19th century flax spinning mills. The three-dimensional relationship of the floors, both within and between the two main blocks, is of note, as is the positioning of the engine house on the gable. The fireproof jack-arch ceiling system of both the Old and New Mills is of structural interest, as is the contrast between the timber and metal roof of the Old Mill and the reinforced concrete of the New Mill. The successive heightening of the Old Mill and the extension of the New Mill can all be read in the fabric of the buildings, reflecting the enlargement of the premises over the first fifty years of its working life. The surviving chimney adds a degree of group value.

Historically, the complex is significant on several counts. Its establishment reflects the boom in Ireland's linen industry in the mid-1860s, driven by the American Civil War and the resulting cotton famine. Its association with the Malcomsons — a prominent Irish Quaker family and among the foremost industrialists in Ireland at that time — is also of note. The mill is of social and economic significance, having provided employment to many generations in the locality, and it represents an increasingly rare survival among the many spinning mills that once operated throughout West Belfast. Although many of the doors and windows have been reframed, most of the original wall and roof fabric survives.

Overview

The complex is a multi-bay, four-storey brick flax spinning mill dating from 1864–66, subsequently heightened to five storeys at around the turn of the 20th century. A three-storey brick flax preparing mill was added in the early 1900s. Five principal components survive from the mill's operational life: (1) the Old Mill, (2) the Engine House, (3) the New Mill, (4) the Yarn Drying Loft, and (5) the Chimney.

1. Old Mill

The Old Mill dates from 1864–66 and stands four storeys high plus a windowless attic, and is 25 openings wide. It is partly occupied by small business units. A slight difference in the colour of the brickwork indicates that the attic floor was added sometime in the later 19th century. The roof is a replacement profiled metal structure with hipped ends; the valley between the original double pitches has been sheeted over. Moulded brackets run along the eaves, with a cream-brick platband beneath. The walls are brick throughout. Rainwater goods are replacement uPVC.

All openings have segmental brick heads and stone cills. The principal elevation faces south-east. At ground floor level there are miscellaneous doors and windows; several doorways are probably enlarged original windows, and all windows at this level have been infilled with concrete blockwork with smaller windows inserted. All but two of the windows on the upper floors of this elevation have relatively recent 2-over-3-pane timber frames; two openings retain their earlier 2-over-4 fenestration.

At the left (north-west) end of the principal elevation is a two-bay section (referred to here as section 1a) that stands five storeys high and itself encompasses two phases of construction. To the rear is a small block containing a stairwell and lift serving the Old Mill and yarn drying loft, possibly added at the same time as the attic. To the front is a later extension, possibly added to house rope drives when the power plant was upgraded in the first decade of the 1900s. This two-bay section has a flat concrete roof with no embellishment to the wall heads. Its south-west elevation has a concrete-headed door and infilled segmental-headed window at ground floor level, and 2-over-3 and 2-over-4-paned timber-framed windows to the upper floors. It is partly abutted at the north-west by the engine house and to the north-east by the drying loft. The north-east end of this section — the earlier phase — is slightly raised and has pairs of windows to the exposed upper section of its north-west elevation.

The north-east elevation of the main section of the Old Mill has miscellaneous doorways and windows at ground floor level, all infilled to some extent. The upper floors have modern 2-over-3 timber-framed windows. Vestiges of one toilet stack (section 1b) survive on this elevation; it has a reinforced concrete frame with brick infill panels and is a replacement of a previous toilet stack, of which there were originally several. The right-hand end of this elevation is partly abutted by the engine house.

Materials summary: red brick in Flemish Bond; replacement profiled metal roof; replacement uPVC rainwater goods; replacement roller shutter doors; replacement 2-over-3-paned timber windows.

1. Engine House

The engine house is a single-storey building abutting the ground floor and part of the first floor of the Old Mill's north-west gable. It may date from around 1908, when a new boiler house and chimney were erected. It has a pitched corrugated-asbestos roof with raised brick gables and a blocking course coped with moulded brick. Rainwater goods are replacement uPVC.

The south-west gable has a small flat-headed window and a segmental-headed door. The north-west elevation has five openings, four of which have semicircular cream-brick heads; all have been modified to some degree. A moulded cream-brick string course runs across this face at arch-spring level.

To the rear, the building rises to the mill's second floor and originally enclosed a rope drive from the engine to each floor of the mill. This rear section has a profiled metal roof, brick walls, and two segmental-headed windows to its south-west face, both now infilled.

Materials summary: red brick in Flemish Bond; pitched corrugated-asbestos roof; replacement plastic rainwater goods; replacement roller shutter doors; windows either infilled or replaced with timber casements.

1. New Mill

The New Mill was added to the south-east gable of the Old Mill in the early 1900s (probably between 1907 and 1912) and formerly contained hackling and tow preparation machinery. It stands three storeys high and is 15 openings wide along the north-east side. It is partly occupied by small business units.

At its north-west gable it is abutted by a five-storey, two-opening-wide section (section 3a) that appears to have been built in two phases. The rear part contains a stairwell and lift serving the Old Mill and is probably contemporary with the attic floor. The front part, which interconnects with the rear section, also contains stairs serving the New Mill. The exposed front section of the Old Mill's gable at this point is blank; the exposed rear section has a window to each upper floor, one now infilled. This staircase section has a flat concrete roof and brick walls, with a blocking parapet to the front. The wall head of its rear elevation is coped with moulded brackets over a cream-brick platband. On its south-west elevation is a full-width roller-shuttered door at ground floor level and pairs of windows of varying sizes to the upper floors, some modified or partly infilled. The rear elevation has a staggered pair of windows to each of the upper floors, in 2-over-4 metal frames and 2-over-3 timber frames. The ground floor of this elevation is abutted by a single-storey toilet block (section 3b) with a flat concrete roof, brick walls, and small high-level metal-framed windows with concrete heads and cills.

The main section of the New Mill has a flat reinforced-concrete roof with a brick blocking parapet and moulded coping all round. All openings have segmental brick heads unless otherwise noted, and all windows have cast-iron cills.

The principal elevation of the New Mill faces south-west. At ground floor level to the left is a passage through to the rear of the building, with a flat metal head trimmed with purple brick; cast-iron cartwheel protectors are fixed to the base of its jambs. Internally, this passage has a brick jack-arch ceiling and a set of trap doors for a goods hoist. Some of the other original external openings at ground floor level have been enlarged to form doorways into small industrial units with roller shutters, while others have been infilled with concrete blockwork. The first and second floor openings all have 4-over-5-paned metal-framed windows with central opening sections; some also have secondary glazing behind. The right-hand (south-east) end of this elevation was formerly abutted by a stairwell and lift shaft that also served another building running south-west towards Springfield Road. With the removal of the stairwell, this section of wall has been rendered in cement, and the connecting doors on the upper floors have been converted to window openings — 2-over-4-paned at first floor and 2-over-2 at second floor — all with timber frames and recycled stone cills.

The south-east gable was originally five openings wide but is now partly abutted by a modern canted brick addition containing a stairwell and lift (section 3c). The exposed left-hand section of the gable is blank; that to the right is two openings wide, with a doorway and window at ground floor level and two windows to each upper floor. Some openings have been infilled; some retain their 4-over-5-paned metal frames.

The north-east elevation faces onto the brick boundary wall. At the left it is abutted by a single-storey, single-bay brick return with a flat concrete roof (section 3d); the absence of a wall joint indicates it is contemporary with the main building. The south-east elevation of this return has two doorways, both with replacement doors — one metal with a 2-over-2 overlight, one timber. Beside the return are the vestiges of a toilet stack (section 3e) of reinforced concrete frame with brick panels, its top section now missing, and doubtless a replacement of a previous stack. Adjoining this is a modern single-storey brick extension with a profiled metal monopitch roof (section 3f). The exposed sections of the north-east elevation retain all their original openings, though those at ground floor level are mostly infilled. All upper-floor windows have 4-over-5-paned metal frames.

Materials summary: red brick in English Garden Wall Bond; flat reinforced-concrete roof; replacement uPVC rainwater goods; replacement roller shutter doors; 4-over-5-paned metal windows.

1. Yarn Drying Loft

This four-storey building sits on the north-west corner of the Old Mill and appears to be contemporary with it, dating from the mid-1860s. It has a hipped profiled metal roof, and its walls are of brick with advanced brick eaves. The south-east elevation has a segmental-headed archway at ground floor level to the left, embellished with a dentilated moulded cream-brick cornice. The original relatively narrow segmental-headed openings on all floors have either been infilled or modified to take modern 1-over-2 uPVC-framed windows with concrete heads and cills; new insertions have been made to all floors on the south-east, south-west, and north-west elevations.

The building is partly abutted by the engine room and by a two-storey brick annexe (section 4a) with a profiled metal monopitch roof and 1-over-2 uPVC windows with concrete heads and cills. This annexe is in turn abutted by a modern two-storey garage and office block (section 4b) with a hipped artificial-slate roof and brick walls.

Materials summary: red brick in Flemish Bond; hipped profiled metal roof; replacement uPVC rainwater goods; replacement roller shutter doors; replacement 1-over-2 uPVC windows.

1. Chimney

This octagonal brick chimney of around 1908 is of slightly tapered profile and stands to its full height over a square brick base that abuts the inside face of the brick boundary wall at the north-west end of the site. It now stands in isolation, disconnected from the demolished boiler house it originally served. The quoins, string course near the top, and corbelled cap are all of purple engineering brick; the main walling is red brick in English Garden Wall Bond. The shaft is reinforced with metal tie rods, to which various communication aerials and dishes have been attached. The south-east face of the base is painted, and two electrical fans are attached to cool the equipment in the adjoining building (section 5a). Modern steel scaffolding around the top of the base supports a timber deck to catch any falling debris. At the south-west the base is abutted by a single-storey concrete-roofed building containing modern communications equipment (section 5a), and at the north-east by a corrugated-metal-roofed shed. The chimney is a Scheduled Monument.

Setting

Weaving sheds formerly stood in front of the mill but this area has been redeveloped as retail outlets and a car park. Along the south-east side of the front yard is a modern multi-storey apartment block. A housing estate now occupies the cleared site of the former Milfort weaving factory, behind the brick perimeter wall running along the back of the mill.

Historical Background

The complex was established in 1864 by William, David, George, and Frederick Malcomson. Valuation records from that year describe the property as Milfort Flax Spinning Mill (unfinished) and weaving shed (in progress). The spinning mill's length was initially recorded as 120 feet, later revised to 213 feet upon completion, with a note that it was "to be raised another storey" — something that appears to have happened almost immediately, as there is no discernible wall break between the second and third floors. By 1866 the associated weaving sheds (with 1,000 looms), engine house (with two 50-horsepower steam engines), boiler houses, preparing shop, and flax stores were all in place. The premises' rateable value rose rapidly from £550 in 1864 to £920 in 1865 and £2,000 in 1866, mirroring the pace of construction. Further increases to £2,180 in 1868 and £2,210 in 1869 reflect yet more additions, which may have included a second engine house accommodating two further steam engines delivered in June 1867, as reported in the Waterford Mail.

A fire on 11 September 1869 caused £1,000 worth of damage to a building and the loss of £2,000 worth of stock, though the newspaper report suggests the building affected was probably not one of those described here. A fire affected one of the buildings on 11 September 1869.

The names of the premises (Milfort), its original address (Waterford Street), and an adjoining road (Malcomson Street) all reflect the family's origins in Portlaw, County Waterford, where they operated what was at that time the largest cotton spinning, weaving, and finishing works in Ireland. The 1865 street directory records William Malcomson & Co as linen merchants and bleachers, with offices in Linenhall Street, Belfast, bleach works in Banbridge, and headquarters in Portlaw. The enterprise first appears in the Belfast directories in 1866, upon completion of the spinning mill and weaving factory, listed as the Milfort Spinning Company on the Falls Road (subsequently revised to Waterford Street). The premises are first shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1872, captioned "Milfort Flax Spinning Mill", with the spinning mill at the centre of the site surrounded by ancillary buildings and weaving sheds on its Springfield Road and Clonard Street sides.

The Belfast Flax Spinning and Weaving Company acquired the premises in 1884. This change of ownership was almost certainly the result of the Malcomson family's catastrophic financial collapse following the failure of their cotton and shipping enterprises in the aftermath of the American Civil War; they had filed for bankruptcy protection in 1876. The modest increase in rateable valuation between 1869 and 1893 — from £2,210 to £2,250 — suggests that no significant new buildings were erected during this period, a conclusion supported by the 1883–84 Ordnance Survey map, which is broadly similar to the 1872 edition in terms of building footprints.

The Belfast Flax Spinning and Weaving Company went into voluntary liquidation in May 1898, following the knock-on effect of the failure of a mill it also owned at Cogry, County Antrim. The Milfort complex was offered at public auction on 5 August 1898. The sale prospectus recorded the machinery as comprising flax spinning and preparing machinery, 22,382 spindles, 795 power looms, assorted finishing machinery, four steam engines, and five boilers, with a reserve price of £35,000.

Part of the complex was purchased by the Blackstaff Spinning and Weaving Company in September 1898 for £17,500. Blackstaff had been established by John Boyd and John Hind at the corner of Durham Street and Linfield Road in 1832, and had adopted the Blackstaff name when incorporated as a limited liability company in 1866 — named after the nearby Blackstaff River. The firm specialised in the production of coarse tow yarn, made from the short fibres left over from flax scutching; this was a relatively low-value product for which demand was declining by the late 19th century. Since 1894 Blackstaff had been loss-making, its machinery outmoded. The acquisition of part of the Milfort Mill gave the company a larger, more up-to-date premises with both spinning and weaving capability. Blackstaff sold their Durham Street site in 1899; it was subsequently incorporated into Murrays' Whitehall Tobacco Works in 1900.

The 1899 Valuation records the Blackstaff Spinning and Weaving Company as owner of "the preparing room, spinning mill, weaving factory, stores and offices" on Springfield Road, valued at £1,050. The remainder of the property — the weaving sheds and ancillary buildings to the north of the spinning mill — was purchased by the Flax Spinners Association, who sold it on to the Milfort Weaving and Finishing Company in 1899, valued at £880. It was at this time that the present boundary wall at the rear of the spinning mill was most likely erected to separate the two properties.

The 1900 Valuation records the spinning mill's dimensions as 211 feet by 52 feet by 59 feet over five storeys, confirming that it had by then been raised from four to five floors since the mid-1860s. The fifth floor is the present attic level of the Old Mill, and its addition — which may also have entailed new stairways at both ends of the building — was probably carried out shortly after Blackstaff took over, perhaps in 1899 or 1900, given the concrete construction of the attic floor. A subsequent letter from the company to the Valuation Office noted that the premises had been rated at £980 in 1899, and that additions erected by Blackstaff had resulted in an increase to £1,280 — a rise of 31% — against which the company was appealing. Comparison of the 1901 Ordnance Survey map with the 1884 edition shows no major changes to building footprints, suggesting these additions were upward rather than outward.

By 1900, motive power was supplied by steam engines with a combined output of 500 horsepower, served by a 140-foot chimney adjacent to a boiler house containing four boilers and economisers, both situated at the rear of the premises. The mill at that time contained 12,000 spindles and 176 looms, and employed 400 workers on a 56-hour week. In January 1906, given the volume of coarse yarn being imported, Blackstaff wrote to the Flax Spinners Association asking permission to install additional spindles beyond the 12,000 to which they were committed under an earlier undertaking; this request was refused.

In 1908 a new boiler house was built at the north-west end of the site, in the yard just beyond the spinning mill; the present chimney dates from this time. It was designed by Charles Aickin, an architect and surveyor based in Rosemary Street, Belfast, as shown by an architectural drawing dated 4 July 1907. These additions were reported in the Irish Builder in January 1909.

Sometime between 1901 and 1920 — most probably between 1906 and 1912, when the property's valuation rose from £1,170 to £1,590, and likely around 1908 — a new three-storey mill (the New Mill) was added at the east end of the Old Mill, as clearly shown on the 1920 Ordnance Survey map and subsequent revisions of 1931 and 1937. It is possible that the New Mill reflected a shift in production focus from the dry spinning of short-fibre tow to wet-spun yarn from finer, longer-line flax, requiring new machinery and increased boiler capacity. There was no significant change to the valuation after this date until the 1935 national revaluation, when it was assessed at £1,800.

The actual steam engine house was at the north-west end of the Old Mill, with a rope drive running up the gable to line shafts powering machinery on each floor. The engine or engines were subsequently removed and replaced with electric motors supplied from the public mains, though the date of electrification is not known without further research.

In later years the mill was engaged in both the wet spinning of long-line fibre and the spinning of tow. The scutched flax was taken to the top floor of the New Mill (known as number 8 floor) for hackling to remove residual woody fibre. The resulting short-fibre tow was sent down to the two floors below (floors 6 and 7) for carding, drawing, and twisting into rove, which was then transferred to the first and second floors of the Old Mill (floors 2 and 3) for spinning into yarn. Meanwhile, the long-line fibre was sent to the ground and fourth floors of the Old Mill (floors 1 and 4) for preparation and wet spinning — rove passing from floor 1 to floor 2, and from floor 4 to floor 3. The spun yarn was then taken to the attic floor (floor 5) for winding into hanks, which were fed down a chute into the drying loft. Once dried, the yarn was bundled, packed, and dispatched.

In 1962 the mill was acquired by Viyella International Ltd, though it continued to trade as Blackstaff. Spinning and weaving operations ceased at an uncertain date, possibly as early as 1975 and certainly by 1989, when the premises were cleared of machinery and sold to one of Blackstaff's former directors. He sold the site to the present owner in the same year, since when it has been known as the Blackstaff Industrial Estate. The interiors have been progressively subdivided into small units let to a variety of small businesses. The Old Mill has been reroofed and the former yarn drying loft is in the process of conversion to small enterprise units. The weaving sheds in front of the mill have been demolished, replaced by a car park and shopping centre. The Milfort half of the original premises has been completely cleared for housing.