Dwelling, (aka Youth Hostel), Mill Lane, Derrylane, Dungiven, Co Londonderry

Dwelling (formerly Miller's Cottage and Corn Kiln, now Youth Hostel)

Mill Lane, Derrylane, Dungiven, County Londonderry

This former miller's cottage with calf outhouse and adjacent corn kiln form a vigorous vernacular group in the townland of Derrylane, with considerable industrial archaeological interest. The complex dates from the early 19th century and originally served the Derrylane Corn Mill, established in 1804 according to the Ordnance Survey Memoirs.

The Cottage

The cottage is a single-storey mid-19th century traditional direct entry dwelling, three bays in length. It retains its original door and window openings and fireplace. The entrance door is framed with the lower half vertically sheeted and three horizontal glazed panels above, flanked by two small narrow fixed sidelights. The cottage has three double sliding sash windows with four panes on each of the northwest and southeast sides. These windows rest on stone cills with horned ends, all painted. The stone walls are whitewashed. The roof, no longer thatched, is covered in black-painted corrugated iron—a typical vernacular substitute—but retains its original roof timbers beneath. A low chimney at the southeast gable and another at the former kitchen, both whitewashed, serve the dwelling. The roof is fitted with half-round metal guttering and one downpipe.

The Calf Outhouse

The outhouse has a front wall set back from the main cottage wall, with its own separate door and one four-pane sliding sash window.

Rear Extension

To the rear of the cottage is a lean-to conservatory or sunroom of temporary construction, with a Perspex corrugated roof that extends across the back of the outhouse and the full length of the cottage. A door from the former kitchen leads to it.

The Corn Kiln

The two-storey former corn kiln stands to the northwest of the cottage, in line with it, built of whitewashed stone. The southeast side comprises two bays with a doorway and single window at ground level, and two irregularly positioned openings at first floor. The quoin stones are picked out in black (though these do not necessarily denote single stones). A large cogwheel rests against the wall between the door and window.

The northwest gable is partially obscured by flimsy constructed sheds flanking a straight flight of external stone steps, set at right angles to the gable. These steps, built from ground level with wider wall portions on either side for stability, give access to a first floor door positioned well above the eaves. The door has a sheeted lower part and two panes above. A rickety wooden handrail serves the stairs. The west gable is also obscured by flimsy constructed sheds and porches; it has a door and window at ground floor level and a single window at first floor, with quoin stones again picked out in black.

The southeast gable rises high above the cottage roof without windows. The barges have been raised with an additional layer of concrete. The roof is black-painted corrugated iron (showing earlier red paint beneath), with two sheets of Perspex on either slope to light the first floor. Half-round pressed metal gutters and downpipes drain the roof; notably, the downpipe on the west side drips onto a lower gutter that contributes to a small model mill wheel water supply. The sheds contain a generator and other items.

The kiln retains its overall original form and plan arrangement, though it has lost its drying floor and former roof structure. The external steps, window and door arrangement, and internal stairs should all be retained.

Historical Context and Mill Complex

According to the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1834–35, the Derrylane Corn Mill was built in 1804 and worked by a stream called the Derrylane Burn (now called Wood Burn). The corn kiln head was of metal. At that time, the head proprietor was Richard Hunter of Coleraine, and the occupants were John and Archibald McSparran. The kiln was built of stone and lime, slated.

The 1832 Ordnance Survey map shows the mill building and corn kiln; the 1856 edition adds the miller's cottage. Griffith's Valuation records a valuation of £9 for the miller's house, corn mill and kiln, with Thomas Kane as occupant and John C.F. Hunter as lessor. The corn kiln is presumed to have ceased operation when the mill changed to scutching in the 1860s. Previous owners included Mr McReynolds, who rented to Mr O'Reilly.

The Mill Group

To the southeast lies a large mill pond, now largely overgrown, which accumulated water from surrounding ditches with no evidence of a burn or stream feeding it. The mill race ran past the rear of the dwelling and kiln to a flume directing water to the mill wheel in the adjacent mill building.

The mill building stands to the north of the kiln, set at approximately right angles to it. Its ground floor, one storey below, housed the former mill machinery and is divided into two spaces by a stone wall with additional timber posts supporting timber beams. The mill wheel (now vanished) was at the west gable, where the hole for the driving axle remains. The building is constructed of stone but has been raised in an ad hoc manner by the present occupants and adapted to living accommodation. The ground floor is used as store and workshop with steep stairs leading to it. Access to the ground floor and first floor from the higher ground level is available. The stonework is not whitewashed, and the roof is sheeted in white corrugated metal.

Special Features to Retain

The external steps, window and door arrangement, and internal stairs of the corn kiln should all be retained to preserve the building's character and historical fabric.