Ballinlea Mill, 34 Kilmahamogue Road, Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, BT54 6JJ

Ballinlea Mill is a water-powered corn mill complex with origins in the late 18th or early 19th century, subsequently enlarged in the 1870s, and situated on the right bank of the headwaters of Moss-side Water in Ballinlea Upper townland. The mill is approached down a tree-lined single-track lane from the main road and is surrounded by fields on all sides, with a stream marking its southern boundary. The complex as a whole is of significant local industrial heritage interest, representing the agricultural economy of the area over more than a century of milling activity.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

A mill and kiln are recorded on the 1832 Ordnance Survey six-inch map. The 1835 Ordnance Survey Memoir describes the original mill as powered by a 13-foot diameter by 2-foot wide breast-shot waterwheel. The First Valuation book of the same year records the owner as James Stewart-Moore, whose tenants in two townlands were bound to the mill. At that time the corn mill measured 39 feet by 22 feet by 8 feet 6 inches, the corn kiln 35 feet by 19 feet by 5 feet 9 inches, the kiln man's house 34 feet by 17 feet 6 inches by 6 feet, and the miller's house 33 feet by 18 feet by 6 feet 3 inches. The mill was slated, but all other buildings were thatched. There was a single set of millstones, 4 feet 10 inches in diameter, used for both shelling and grinding oats, and apparently capable of producing only one boll of meal per hour (140 lb). The valuation notes that there was sufficient water for almost five months of the year.

At a subsequent but unknown date, the recorded heights of the corn mill and kiln were increased to 16 feet, the number of millstone sets rose from one to two, and the machinery was revised from "middling" to "new." This almost certainly reflects the raising of the mill from one to two storeys and a reconfiguration of its machinery, probably involving a change from a basic single-step gear arrangement between waterwheel and millstones to a two-step great spurwheel configuration. The original waterwheel (13 feet by 2 feet) was most likely replaced by the present, larger one (15 feet by 5½ feet) at the same time.

The 1857 Ordnance Survey map shows a broadly similar site layout to 1832, with the addition of several further buildings, including a two-storey building adjacent to the mill that served as a kiln. The 1859 Valuation records James Stewart-Moore as owner and describes the premises as comprising a corn mill, three kilns, a miller's house and offices, with a rateable valuation of £26, noting that "the mill was let at £30 some years ago."

A Valuation revision book entry dated 1871 describes the complex as a "corn and saw mill, kilns, miller's house and offices," with a rateable valuation of £36 — an increase of £10 (38%). A marginal note reads "saw mill and store house erected now," indicating that the mill was enlarged around 1870–71 with the addition of a store whose ground floor housed a saw. It is possible that all the alterations noted in the First Valuation book — the raising of the mill and the reconfiguration of the machinery — took place at this single phase rather than in two separate episodes.

The 1904 Ordnance Survey map captions the complex as "Ballinlea Mill (corn)" and shows the site essentially as it stands today, consistent with a refurbishment some thirty years previously. This map also shows an extension on the north gable of the store and saw mill, just beyond the waterwheel. The 1901 Valuation notebook records this as a slated rubble masonry building measuring 26 feet by 18 feet by 10 feet, with a 38-foot chimney on its east gable containing a "tatty engine and boiler." A clean wall break at the north-east corner of the store and saw mill confirms this engine house was added between 1871 and 1904, serving as a back-up to the waterwheel; the chimney indicates it housed a steam engine, probably a very small one.

The 1901 Valuation records the mill as containing a pair of shelling stones and a pair of grinding stones, worked for half the year, with the saw mill operating only intermittently. The mill owner is recorded as James S. Moore, with George Hutchinson occupying the miller's house and Robert Campbell the kiln man's house. By this date both dwellings were slated.

By 1922 the engine house is depicted as a roofless shell. In 1926, Charles Glass took over the premises, by which point they are described as "corn mill, kiln and offices," with the saw mill evidently no longer in use. Mr Hutchinson continued to occupy the miller's house; John Gillan had been in the kiln man's house since 1909. Mr Glass was still milling in 1934, though the corn mill appears to have ceased operation by then. The 1934 Valuation revision records the waterwheel as overshot and measuring 14 feet by 5 feet, and describes three sets of millstones — two at 54 inches in diameter and one at 56 inches — working for six months of the year, with an average annual output of 3,000 sixteen-stone bags of meal (equivalent to approximately 12 tons per week, a remarkably high output).

In 1935, Mr Glass appealed to the Valuation Office for a reduction in his rateable valuation, writing: "I depend entirely on the neighbouring farmers' oat crop and when that is all milled I have nothing to do the rest of the year," and noting that "the buildings are all old and require considerable outlay yearly to keep in repair. Besides, the machinery is all old and expensive to keep running." His appeal resulted in a reduction of £4, bringing the mill's rating to £18. Local knowledge suggests that corn milling continued until 1940, consistent with a pencil inscription on a beam within the mill referring to Canadian maize from Portrush dated 1940.

It was Mr Glass who installed an electricity generator using a power take-off from the pulley that had originally driven the sawmill, probably in the mid-20th century, though the precise date is uncertain. The date at which the small plate and roller mills were inserted is similarly uncertain, though the plate mill bears an inscription relating to Messrs Corbett, who were awarded first prize by the Royal Agricultural Society of England in 1890, establishing that date as the earliest possible. The mill complex was subsequently repurchased by the Stewart-Moore family.

THE MILL BLOCK

The mill block comprises three interconnected structures: the corn mill itself, an abutting single-storey lean-to (the seed house) on its east side, and a two-storey store and saw mill on its west side.

Corn Mill

The corn mill is aligned north to south, with its entrance on the south gable. It measures 38 feet 10 inches north to south by 22 feet east to west and is two storeys high. The roof is pitched natural slate with plain verges and half-round plastic gutters. The walls are random rubble with a corbelled brick eaves course. Unless otherwise noted, all openings have flat brick heads and jambs.

The south gable has a double-leaf timber entrance door at ground floor level, a loading door at first floor (with a projecting sloping concrete sill), and a two-over-two sliding sash window at the apex. The west elevation is partly abutted by the two-storey store. The exposed section of the mill has two ground-floor windows: on the left a two-by-four-paned metal-framed window with a stone sill, and on the right a brick-infilled window opening. There is also a two-by-four metal-framed window at first floor. The stonework on this elevation differs markedly between floors: the ground floor is randomly laid with very crude quoins, while the first floor is brought to courses with large, roughly dressed quoin blocks. This contrast strongly suggests that the entire building was raised from one to two storeys at some point in its history. The north gable has a two-over-two sliding sash window at first floor.

Set in front of the north gable is an overshot waterwheel, 14 feet in diameter by 5 feet 6 inches wide, housed in a stone-lined wheelpit 7 feet 3 inches wide. The wheel's axle, hubs and rims are of cast iron; the tie bars between the rims are of wrought iron. The two sets of eight arms, the 40 angled buckets, and the sole plate are all of timber. Although the wheel was restored by the present owner in the relatively recent past, it is now idle and some of its buckets and sole boards are rotten. The wheel is fed by a timber launder supported on a brick pier at the end of a rubble masonry headrace; this launder is a modern replacement of an original riveted sheet-iron one. A concrete-lined opening on the side of the race acts as an overspill for excess water. After passing over the waterwheel, water was conveyed along an open tailrace through the store and then along a short culvert to the stream.

On the east elevation, partly abutted by the seed house lean-to, there is a sheeted timber door at the south end with a rudimentary porch with a corrugated iron roof.

Seed House

The single-storey, single-bay lean-to abuts the east elevation of the mill. Now empty, it was originally the seed house, into which oat shells and weed seeds were blown during the oat shelling process. It measures 34 feet 6 inches north to south by 7 feet 6 inches east to west. The roof is monopitched natural slate with two metal-framed skylights but no rainwater goods. The walls are random rubble with a corbelled brick eaves course, built in a similar style to the mill's first floor. Windows on the north and east elevations have been bricked in, and there is a beaded tongue-and-groove door at the south end.

Mill Store and Saw Mill

This two-storey, single-bay building partly abuts the west side of the mill. It measures 35 feet 6 inches north to south by 16 feet 10 inches east to west. Its roof detailing matches that of the mill. The style of its stonework — including the corbelled brick eaves course — is identical to that of the mill's first floor, suggesting it was built at the same time as the mill was heightened. The main entrance on the south gable comprises a double-leaf beaded tongue-and-groove door with stone jambs, with a bricked-in opening to its left. There is also a two-over-two timber casement window at first floor with a concrete sill. The west elevation has two ground-floor shuttered openings, both with voussoired stone heads and stone jambs but no sills, and a brick-trimmed loading door at first floor with a concrete sill. The north gable has a ground-floor doorway (door missing) with a brick relieving arch and stone jambs, and a bricked-in opening to the left; at first floor there is a one-over-one sash window with a slate sill. The exposed east elevation spans the tailrace and has no openings. Vestiges of cement flashing at its right-hand end indicate that a single-storey building with a double-pitch roof formerly abutted this elevation.

The Headrace

The headrace leads along the northern boundary of the site, falling from its point of origin to the north-east of Kilmahamogue Road towards the mill. The race is lined with randomly coursed stone to its sides and larger stones to its base. It joins the gable of the kiln building, where a timber sluice gate survives mid-span, before terminating at the head of the wheel.

MACHINERY

Of particular note is the survival of the stone lining to the races and of the waterwheel itself. Although the three pairs of millstones and most of the power transmission gearing have been dismantled, the surviving power transmission to the roller and grinding mills is of historical interest as evidence of how milling technology changed during the 20th century.

KILN

Immediately to the east of the mill block stands a two-storey former kiln, aligned north to south and measuring 42 feet 3 inches north to south by 18 feet 3 inches east to west. It first appears on the 1857 Ordnance Survey map. The roof has been replaced with corrugated asbestos sheeting; there are vestiges of a gable chimney, presumably associated with the firehole; plastic rainwater goods; and random rubble walls. The west elevation has a large sliding corrugated metal entrance door and a metal-framed window to its left. The drying floor has been removed, and the interior is now used as a store for items of milling machinery salvaged from Clontyfinnan Mill, including timber millstone furniture, cast-iron stone nuts and spindles, flat pulleys, shafts, bevel gears, and sluice gate pinions. Some original equipment from Ballinlea may also be present. The kiln's south gable is abutted by a relatively modern greenhouse. At the north end of its east elevation there is a small two-storey random rubble return, formerly a store, which has been extended as a single-storey concrete block shed with a monopitched corrugated metal roof.

KILN MAN'S HOUSE

On the opposite side of the laneway, south of the mill block, stands a one-and-a-half-storey, two-bay dwelling aligned north to south and measuring 34 feet north to south by 17 feet 9 inches east to west. A small roofless single-storey, single-bay extension is attached to its south gable. The house was extant in the 1830s and is now derelict. The pitched natural slate roof is in poor repair and there are no rainwater goods. The walls are random rubble, though the south gable has been repaired with concrete blocks. The west elevation has a central entrance door flanked by infilled windows; all openings have brick heads and jambs. Immediately behind this house are four millstones: a pair of 60-inch diameter shelling stones and a pair of 52-inch diameter grinding stones, the latter possibly of French burr. According to the owner, all four are original to Ballinlea.

OUTBUILDING 1

Just to the west of the kiln man's house is a small single-storey, single-bay byre, now very overgrown. It first appears on the 1922 Ordnance Survey map. The roof is pitched corrugated iron and the walls are random rubble, with no openings other than a doorway at the west end of the north elevation. A lean-to concrete block shed with a monopitched corrugated metal roof has been added to its east gable.

OUTBUILDING 2

East of the kiln man's house are the overgrown remains of a single-storey random rubble outbuilding, shown on the 1832 Ordnance Survey map.

MILLER'S HOUSE

At the north-east corner of the complex is a substantial one-and-a-half-storey, multi-bay dwelling aligned east to west and measuring 47 feet by 18 feet 6 inches, excluding a single-storey return on the west gable. The miller's house was extant in the 1830s and is the only building in the complex still in use, having been refurbished. It has a pitched natural slate roof with three eaves dormers to the south pitch, plastic rainwater goods, cement-rendered walls, and an entrance porch on the south elevation.

ICE-HOUSE

Immediately to the south of the miller's house, hidden by brambles, is a roughly circular stone-lined structure only a few feet in diameter, with a stone lintel spanning a south-facing opening. Although small, its proximity to the river suggests it functioned as an ice-house or similar structure.