Owen O'Cork Mill, 288 Beersbridge Road, Belfast, Co Down, BT5 5DX

Owen O'Cork Mill is a large flax mill complex, predominantly in brick, largely dating from around 1850 but substantially extended in the later 19th and early 20th centuries. It stands on the north-west side of Beersbridge Road, near its intersection with Bloomfield Drive, in the townland of Ballyhackamore. The complex comprises several distinct structures described below. For the purposes of this description, the north-west orientation of the buildings is referred to simply as west, and north-east as east.

THE MILL

The mill proper lies roughly at the centre of the complex. It is a long structure — over 90 metres — of four storeys, built in plain brick with a roof that is part gabled and part flat. The building was constructed in phases. The eastern half and the lower two storeys of the western half date from sometime between 1835 and 1853, most probably around 1850. A short, slightly projecting central section, which originally housed the engine, also dates from this period but was raised by one additional storey in 1911. The upper two storeys of the western half were most likely added at the same time.

The mill has a plain, functional appearance with no decorative ambition of the kind seen at contemporary mills such as Herdmans' at Sion Mills, Andrews' at Comber, or Jennymount in North Belfast. The brick façade is largely uniform, with subtle tonal differences in the brickwork marking the earlier and later phases of construction. The only breaks in the façade are painted stone quoins (projecting alternately in and out), a painted parapet, and the full-height square projecting bay of the engine section, which is centred on both the north and south elevations.

Each floor generally has 35 windows, all regularly arranged. The windows are tall with flat arches and timber frames of either eight or three lights; these are probably early to mid-20th century replacements. The windows to the first and second floors of the engine bay, on both north and south elevations, are exceptions: they are considerably wider, with twelve-light frames. The ground floor of the north elevation is punctuated by various pedestrian and vehicle doorways, not all of which are original. The south elevation has fewer doorways at ground floor level. Door openings are filled with a mixture of functional doors — some partly glazed, others plain metal or timber-sheeted — and roller shutters or metal doors to the vehicle openings. Various signboards relating to businesses within the building are attached to the ground floor of the north elevation.

Just to the left of the engine bay on the north elevation, a corrugated, possibly asbestos-clad link extends from first floor level to the large free-standing three-storey engine house building (described separately below). Immediately to the right of the same bay, the façade rises above parapet level to form a small castellated tower. Just below this tower, and below parapet level, is a painted date panel reading 1911. Towards the right-hand end of the north elevation there is a recent fire escape stair. On the south elevation, most of the ground floor window openings to the left are covered with corrugated iron sheets. To the right at ground floor level, two single-storey flat-roofed links connect the mill to a relatively large double-pile single-storey building further to the south (described separately below).

The short east elevation of the mill appears to be gabled. It features a large central full-height projecting curved stairwell, lit on the north and south sides by large square multi-pane windows at each half-landing level. This projection appears to be flat-roofed. Immediately to the south of the stairwell there is a later projection — probably dating from around 1911 — which is square, full-height, and contains toilets. It has a two-light window to each level on its south side and also appears to have a flat roof. The short west elevation has a similar central full-height square projection containing toilets, almost certainly dating from the same period as its eastern counterpart. This western projection has two windows to each level on its south side and a single window to the upper two floors on its north side. To the right of this projection on the main building there is one window at each level. Although the east elevation appears to be gabled, the roof of this section — and of the mill as a whole — appears to be flat, though this could not be confirmed on inspection. Documentary evidence confirms that the earlier eastern section originally had a gabled roof. At the central eastern and western ends of the roof, mobile telephone mast equipment has been attached.

THE ENGINE HOUSE

The engine house stands just to the north of the mid-point of the mill. It is entirely brick-built, three storeys high, with a roof that is part gabled and part hipped, covered in slate. Its precise date is uncertain. An engine house and drying loft is shown on this site on the valuation plan of 1860, but recorded as only two storeys at that date. A similar building appears on a plan of 1871, though with the chimney to the west rather than the east as it is today. The brickwork suggests the present building probably dates from 1873 to 1874. The single-storey flat-roofed projection to the front and the chimneystack were added after 1902.

The ground floor of the east elevation is largely occupied by a relatively tall single-storey flat-roofed projection. Its east face has four large semicircular-headed openings with painted voussoirs — probably of stone — and a painted course at springing level. Three of these openings are filled with recent glazing; the fourth is largely filled with a recent glazed door. All four openings have roller shutters. Above the openings on the left side, raised plastic lettering spells out the name of a business. At the north end of this projection, it abuts a tall, battered, octagonal brick chimneystack.

At first floor level on the east elevation of the main part of the building there are five evenly-spaced windows with segmental heads, roughly square in proportion, fitted with sash frames with Georgian panes. The second floor has five similar but shorter windows. The north-facing gable has a plain metal-sheeted door to the left at first floor level, accessed by a metal stair. At ground floor level to the left there are two relatively small windows covered with security grilles, and a doorway to the right with a louvred door. The ground floor of the west elevation appears to have originally been open, with the header of the opening supported on cast iron columns. This opening has since been largely bricked up, with a large vehicle doorway (with roller shutter) inserted to the right of centre. The cast iron columns remain visible. The first and second floors of the west elevation have windows matching those on the corresponding floors of the east elevation. At first floor level on the south elevation there extends the corrugated, possibly asbestos-clad link connecting to the mill. Towards the far right of the single-storey section there are two arched recesses similar in form to the windows on the east front, but filled in with brick.

OFFICE AND STORES

On the east side of the complex, fronting Beersbridge Road, is a long, plain, two-storey flat-roofed building constructed in 1873 to 1874 as a flax store and offices.

The front (east) elevation has twelve openings at ground floor level: ten tall segmental-headed windows and two doorways. The first four windows from the left have Georgian-paned sash frames; the remainder have later eight-light frames similar to those on the mill. The two doorways are positioned between the 3rd and 4th windows and between the 5th and 6th windows respectively. The left-hand doorway is narrower and has a tall segmental-headed fanlight above it. The broader right-hand doorway has a double door with roller shutter and a timber signboard above. At first floor level there are twelve blind windows. Painted projecting-and-recessed stone quoins appear at the right-hand (north) edge of the front elevation. At the left-hand edge there is a small section of sandstone walling, possibly a remnant of an earlier building on the site. Directly above this stonework is a large cast iron date panel bearing the year 1873.

The short south elevation is largely in red brick matching the front, but with a substantial section of the first floor in recent concrete brick. At ground floor level there are two windows to the left, matching the ground floor front left windows. To the right of these a modern metal gate has been attached, and further right a number of small laminated signboards.

The short north elevation has a blind window at ground floor level — this may originally have been an opening. At first floor level there are two windows, both matching the front but with early 20th century multi-pane frames. Projecting-and-recessed quoins appear at the left-hand edge.

The rear (west) elevation has, to its left, a relatively recent single-storey lean-to extension with a roughcast façade and corrugated iron roof, which abuts a long single-storey building to the west. Immediately to the right of this lean-to is a doorway with a double door and a large area of metal sheeting above — this opening may originally have been a window. To the right of this are five windows and a smaller doorway. The windows match those at the front but have slightly varying Georgian-paned sash frames. The doorway has a large signboard above it. At first floor level on the rear elevation there are eleven windows and a central doorway. The windows have early to mid-20th century timber frames; the glazing in some has been obscured, possibly with paint or plastic film. The central doorway has a timber-sheeted door with a large multi-pane fanlight above it.

STORES

To the north side of the complex is a long single-storey building in brick with a corrugated asbestos roof and gabled ends. At the west end the roof is slightly higher, with the transition between the two roof levels marked by a crow-step gable. The long south elevation has a series of largely uniform flat-arched windows to the right and centre, interspersed with various doorways including a large vehicle doorway. To the left there are two further large flat-arched vehicle doorways, some narrower windows, and some blind windows. The window frames are a mixture, most of them Georgian-paned types probably dating from the early 1900s. All windows are covered with security grilles. A small section of the façade to the right is finished in roughcast. A stone header course runs across much of this elevation. Various laminated signboards of different sizes are attached throughout. The west gable is blank and has a crow-step parapet. The east gable abuts the lean-to of the office and store block and has a rendered parapet. The rear (north) elevation could not be seen in its entirety. To the left there are a series of blind windows, and similar features may be present to the right.

STORE TO THE SOUTH OF THE MILL

Immediately to the south of the mill is a large single-storey gabled building in brick, dating from after 1902 and possibly from 1911. It is plain and functional, and is connected to the mill by two narrow flat-roofed corridors on its north side. The building is currently entered from its east gable, where a recessed PVC-glazed door screen has been inserted to the left. Above this is a large plastic signboard, and to the right a large window opening has been blocked up and rendered over. The long south elevation has a uniform series of large segmental-headed window openings, all now covered over with corrugated iron. Two doorways to the right have been blocked up in breeze block. The west gable has a large flat-arched loading bay doorway with a roller shutter — this is not original. To the left of this doorway a large window has been blocked up in the same manner as on the east gable. The north elevation could not be seen, nor could the roof covering be confirmed. To the south-west of this building there is a large, recently constructed corrugated iron-clad single-storey gabled warehouse.

BUILDING TO THE SOUTH-EAST

To the south-east of the mill, fronting Beersbridge Road, is a relatively large, plain, gabled building in brick with a roof that is part slate and part corrugated asbestos. On the front (east) elevation, the far left has a recessed doorway with a recent door, and the far right has another doorway with a plain metal-sheeted door. Between these there are five broad windows set at a relatively high level, separated by pilaster-like brick piers, all with recent awnings above. A very large plastic signboard spans the full length of the elevation above door and window level. The south gable could not be seen in its entirety but appears to be abutted by a shed belonging to a property to the south, and appears to have no openings. The north gable has had all its openings — three windows and a doorway — blocked up in a mixture of breeze block and red brick. The rear (west) elevation could not be seen in its entirety, but to the north it has a relatively large flat-roofed brick projection with two smaller flat-roofed projections further to the north. All visible openings in these projections have been blocked in a mixture of brick and breeze block, with one opening covered in metal sheeting. A small section of roof at the north end is covered in corrugated asbestos, separated from the rest of the slated roof by a brick parapet with rendered coping.

SMALL SHED TO THE EAST

Immediately to the east of the mill, backing onto Beersbridge Road, is a relatively small single-storey gabled building largely in brick, which appears originally to have been used as a shed and is now used as a store. It is entered from a recessed plain-sheeted double door to the left on the west elevation, which otherwise appears to have no openings. To the right, the west elevation is abutted by the mill's square toilet projection. The north gable is in plain render with no openings, and is partly covered in plastic and laminated signboards. The modern entrance gate is attached to this gable. The south gable has a doorway to the right matching that on the west elevation. The lower half of the south gable is in random rubble and the upper half in brick. The east elevation is mostly in random rubble with a small upper portion in brick, much of which is covered by two long laminated signboards. The gabled roof is slated. There is a small skylight to the west slope. To the east slope there are two rectangular areas covered in what appears to be felt, which may originally have been skylights.

YARDS AND OTHER BUILDINGS

The yard to the north of the mill — with the engine house to the south, and the former stores to the east and north — is surfaced in tarmac and concrete and is now used largely as a car park. At the west end of this area there is a large recently constructed gabled warehouse in concrete block and corrugated metal sheeting. To the south-west of the mill the open ground is largely overgrown and used as a dump. To the south-east of this area there is another recently constructed gabled warehouse building clad in corrugated metal sheeting.

HISTORY

The site has been home to a mill since at least the early 17th century. The place name Owen O'Cork may derive from the Irish for "river of the oat mill." The Ordnance Survey map of 1834 shows buildings just to the north-west of the present complex, one labelled "Beer's Mills" and the other simply "mill." These may have been separate operations: while the valuation of 1833 appears to record both buildings as a spinning mill under a single owner, William Radcliffe, the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of the following year describe Beer's Mills as "a large flour mill." Radcliffe and Munce are listed as corn (flour) millers in Pigot's Directory of 1824, so it is probable that all the buildings shown in 1834 were in common ownership but served different functions.

By 1857, when the revised Ordnance Survey map was produced, all the earlier buildings had been cleared and much of the present mill erected. The precise date of this rebuilding is not certain. William Radcliffe is believed to have gone bankrupt in 1843, and no mill is recorded in Slater's Directory of 1846. However, the present spinning mill was the subject of an arbitration case in 1853 and is recorded in Slater's 1856 directory. The 1860 valuation suggests the building was less than twenty years old at that date, all pointing to a construction date of around 1850. This is supported by a large cast iron date marker for 1850 found loose within the mill building by the site caretaker some years ago.

The new mill was probably built by James and William Steen, recorded as owners in the 1860 valuation. That valuation provides a detailed account of the site at that date: the mill was four storeys to the east side and only two storeys to the west, with a three-storey engine house section at the centre; there was a separate free-standing two-storey engine house to the north (on the site of the present engine house building); and there were two- and single-storey stores and mechanics' shops to the north-east and north-west. To the south were two rows of workers' houses known as Steen's Row, with a large two-storey dwelling occupied by the Steens themselves — later known as Owen O'Cork House — to the west. The mill's 11,378 spindles were driven by two steam engines of 45 and 25 horsepower respectively.

The Steens sold the mill in 1873 to the Belfast Flax and Jute Company, who immediately carried out major alterations: building a new complex of two- and single-storey stores to the north and east, and constructing the present engine house on the site of the earlier one. The complex remained in this form until 1911, when the western and central sections of the mill were raised to four storeys (and the gabled roof was removed from the original four-storey eastern section), the single-storey extension to the engine house was added, and the large stores to the south of the mill were constructed.

Owen O'Cork Mill continued in operation until the 1970s, after which the complex became home to a variety of different businesses. Around 2000, a large warehouse, mainly clad in corrugated metal, was erected at the western end of the site.