Ballyvennaght Mill, Mill Road, Near 144 Cushendall Road, Ballypatrick, Ballycastle, Co. Antrim

Ballyvennaght Mill is a two-storey water-powered corn mill dating to the 18th century, located on the right bank of the Carey River in a secluded rural setting near Ballycastle, County Antrim. The mill is accessed by a long unsurfaced track leading from Mill Road, off the main Cushendall-Ballycastle Road.

The mill is a single-bay building aligned north-south at the bottom of a steep slope on the east side of the river flood plain. The walls are constructed of random rubble basalt and sandstone field stones with finely-dressed projecting sandstone eaves. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with no rainwater goods. The north gable contains the only entrance, featuring a wooden lintel with a sandstone relieving arch above. At first-floor level is a large window opening, though the head and frame are now missing. The east elevation is partly cut into the slope and contains the collapsed remnants of a small opening at its south end that originally lit the stone floor. The south elevation is mostly blank except for a small window opening at first-floor left, with the external waterwheel mounted on this wall. The west elevation is blank save for a small slit window to each floor at its right-hand end; between and just left of these windows is a blank recess of unknown function.

The waterwheel, mounted on the outside of the south gable, measures 12 feet in diameter by 2 feet 3 inches wide and was backshot, rotating clockwise when viewed from outside the mill. Apart from its cast-iron shaft, hubs and wrought-iron tie rods, it is entirely wooden, comprising two sets of six arms, six pairs of rim segments held together with metal straps, and 36 angled buckets mortised into the inside faces of the rim. The buckets and soleplate are now missing, and the remaining woodwork is in poor condition.

Water was supplied to the wheel via a long headrace contoured along the valley side from a weir across the river approximately a quarter-mile to the southeast. The race remains largely intact, though the weir has disappeared. At the mill end of the race is a concrete emplacement, probably dating to the Second World War, with an overspill channel to the side. A timber launder originally conveyed water from this point to the waterwheel; only the collapsed remains of an intermediate rubble masonry supporting pier now survive. Spent water from the wheel flowed in an open channel back to the river to the northwest.

The mill contained single-step power transmission gearing and a single pair of millstones, along with ancillary grain and meal processing equipment.

A short distance northwest of the mill stands a long two-storey building, partly ruinous, originally comprising a dwelling house at the north end and a grain-drying kiln at the south. The roof is pitched natural slate, though it has collapsed at the kiln end. A red brick chimney stands on the north gable. The walls are random rubble with roughly-dressed sandstone quoins and remnants of lime wash, with no rainwater goods. Openings have flat heads with red brick surrounds. The house remains largely intact structurally, though its interior has collapsed. The kiln features an external stone staircase to first-floor level and a ground-floor doorway on its east side; the first-floor drying floor has collapsed, but a quarter-arched passage into the ground-floor fire hole survives. Beyond the house are the ruins of a single-storey, single-bay outbuilding, possibly a pig sty, and a small roofless lean-to at the east, at the bottom of the bank.

The mill lies in a secluded location surrounded by fields. To its north is a mid-19th century road bridge, to the west of which are the ruinous remains of another water-powered corn and flax mill. Doors and windows are missing throughout the mill building.