Former Office Block, Inver Bleach and Dye Works, 3 Inver Road, Larne, Co Antrim, BT40 3BW

Former Office Block, Inver Bleach and Dye Works, Larne

This is a mid-19th century industrial office building forming part of a bleach works of considerable local historical interest. The main block was erected in 1868 for Thomas Barklie and William Eccles, though the works themselves were originally established around 1766 by Thomas Barklie of Cogry, Doagh. The business passed to his sons John and Archibald Barklie around 1800, then in 1861 to Archibald's son Thomas, who took on William Eccles as partner. The Barklie family sold the works around 1924; it was subsequently taken over by the Bleachers Association and then by its most recent occupants in 1981.

The building has handsome external proportions and an impressive internal roof structure, though its architectural quality has been diminished by insensitive later additions to the exterior and alterations to the interior.

MAIN OFFICE BLOCK

The principal building is a two-storey, hipped-roofed structure in stone, with a single-storey return to the rear. The main entrance faces east.

East elevation: Four windows wide at first floor level. Walls are of snecked basalt, roughly coursed, with tooled arrises to the quoins. The roof is covered with Bangor blue slates in regular courses. A moulded cast iron gutter sits on a projecting stone eaves course. Windows are rectangular timber sliding sash, 1 over 1, with horns, and have rough timber framing for protective wire mesh tacked on. The inside corners at the top of the window frames are coved, except at the extreme right-hand windows on each floor. Some damage is visible to the first and second windows from the right on the first floor. Window heads are flat arches of shaped basalt voussoirs; cills are of sandstone; the window reveals are finished in smooth cement render. The ground floor has three windows similar to those above, with some rot to the bottom of the frames. The second opening from the right is a doorway, rectangular and the same size as the windows. It has a new six-panelled hardwood door set in white-painted timber framing with a rectangular fanlight and narrow rectangular sidelights, all glazing replaced by plywood panels.

South elevation: Four windows wide at first floor level, but the extreme left-hand opening has been blocked with concrete blockwork and its cill removed. The walls are as on the entrance elevation, but a modern lean-to loading bay has been attached to the left-hand side, consisting of a corrugated iron roof with a timber fascia and PVC gutter and downpipe. Cement render has been applied to the south elevation at the upper left above the lean-to. Windows are rectangular timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 6 over 6, without horns. The ground floor window to the right of the doorway has a security grille attached; the window to the left of the doorway has a timber panel nailed over the lower sash; to the left of that, a stone-blocked opening smaller than the other windows is visible. The roof matches the east elevation and carries one chimney, rectangular in form and finished in smooth cement render with a later finish and a single pot that is not original. Cast iron guttering matches the east elevation. The second opening from the left at ground floor is a doorway with a segmental arch of granite voussoirs, featuring an 1868 datestone. The reveals are roughly cemented. The double doors are ledged timber hung on large iron hinges, all original. A step has been crudely fashioned in concrete, ramped up to the entrance. The loading bay attached to the left-hand end of the building has a concrete blockwork and cement-rendered front with large rectangular steel roller doors, an inappropriate later addition; a flush door at this end is approached by modern steel steps.

North elevation: Five windows wide, all timber sliding sash, 1 over 1, with horns, and all fitted with timber-framed security grilles. One chimney matches that on the south elevation but has no pots. Cast iron guttering and one cast iron downpipe are present; the gutter is in poor condition and the stone eaves course at the left-hand extremity is damaged.

West elevation: The right-hand portion is obscured by the rear return block, and cement render has been applied to the wall above it. Two segmental-arched openings at ground floor level have been partly reduced in width by later concrete block infill; the left-hand one has also been reduced in height by a later concrete cill inserted above the original cill, with blockwork closing the gap. The window to the left at ground floor is a timber fixed light divided into eight panes, with a security grille attached; the window to the right is blocked with cement and blockwork. At first floor, the left-hand opening is closed with red brick; the right-hand opening is glazed with a six-pane fixed light with thick transom and mullions. To the right, the rear return is built in basalt rubble over a watercourse, with segmental arches of varying size at the base serving as outlets from the submerged foundations of attached buildings to the west. Four window openings in the return have been closed with brickwork; it has a felt-covered flat roof. The west end of the return has one window opening closed to the left of a later rectangular cement-dressed vehicular entrance with a steel roller door, facing a concrete area linking with the other buildings to the west.

SETTING AND OTHER BUILDINGS ON THE SITE

The former office building stands near the main entrance to an extensive bleach works alongside the Larne River on the western edge of the town. A number of buildings of various dates extend beyond it to the west and to the south, the industrial buildings generally in a poor state of repair, with some derelict and others ruinous.

Bleach House: This adjoins the south side of the rear return of the dated 1868 office building. It is a single-storey structure with basalt rubble walls finished in smooth cement render and a corrugated asbestos roof. Various openings are visible on the south side, including one crudely broken through and temporarily blocked with corrugated iron. Projecting from the east end is a single-storey acid store room with basalt rubble walls to the north, cement-rendered to the east and south, and later red brick dressings to a large segmental-arched opening. The gables have a segmental profile, but the building has been re-roofed in corrugated metal to a single pitch. Inside, the walls are whitened and the floor is of wide timber boards with drainage spaces to the foundations below. A row of tall central whitened brick piers carries wide timber trusses of shallow pitch, from which wooden constructions are suspended to support linen threaded through ceramic eyes. At the south end, timber steps lead up to stone-lined pits; at the north end, short timber steps in damaged condition lead up to a mezzanine floor containing a row of iron boiling pots. The Bleach House appears to be of at least early 19th century date, though its fittings and machinery are probably of 20th century date.

Adjoining buildings to the west: Connected to the Bleach House to the west is an extensive single-storey area, cement-rendered to the exterior, of no special architectural or historical interest. This extends at the south corner to abut a single-storey linear development running parallel with a concrete-lined open water channel alongside the driveway. The block to the east has basalt walls, is single-storey and gabled with a Bangor blue slated roof in regular courses and iron trusses. The block to the west has timber king posts and an open water channel at its west end interior, all in poor condition. A single-storey cement-rendered toilet block projects to the east.

Grey Room and former Laundry: Detached to the south-west stands a long two-storey gabled block comprising the Grey Room to the east and the former Laundry to the west. The walls are of roughly coursed basalt rubble with square quoins. Windows are rectangular, large at ground floor and smaller at first floor; ground floor windows on the south side are blocked. The east gable has a large later vehicular access, cement-dressed, with a steel shutter door and a bricked-up opening to its right. The north elevation has later projections of no quality and small-paned sash windows in derelict condition. The interior is now missing its intermediate floor, the main feature being large queen post trusses.

Boiler House: To the south and parallel with the Grey Room and former Laundry runs a single-storey Boiler House. The walls are of basalt rubble and the building is gabled with a segmental profile. The east gable has three semi-circular openings, the central one blocked with render and the other two closed with tongued and grooved sheeting incorporating doors. The roof is supported on Belfast trusses. Beyond a lateral wall containing semi-circular openings, further Belfast trusses are found in a section of the building that has been partly damaged by fire.

Chimney: Standing further to the west of the Boiler House is a tall red brick chimney of octagonal plan, tapering, with a small red brick single-storey building at its base. There is evidence of fire destruction to adjacent buildings.

Workshop: Detached and standing to the east of the Boiler House is a single-storey gabled building used as a workshop. Walls are of basalt rubble, with red brick to the west end and south wall, and a segmental roof covered with felt. The east end is exposed following the removal of a later end bay, revealing a basalt cross wall with red brick dressings to two bricked-up openings.

Derelict stone buildings group: Detached to the south beyond the Boiler House is a group of derelict stone buildings. At the west end stands a two-storey gabled building in roughly coursed basalt rubble with roughly squared quoins. The north front is four windows wide at first floor, with timber fixed lights of 12 panes with thin glazing bars; three windows retain remnants of glazing and one is filled with wooden louvres. The ground floor has three timber sliding sash windows, vertically hung, 6 over 6, without horns, all derelict, and a rectangular doorway. The interior is derelict and partly unroofed, but two large king post trusses remain in position. The south elevation is overgrown. Extending to the east is a ruinous basalt link block now missing most of its first floor, with crumbling yellow brick heads to the ground floor windows and jambs of thin red brick, all later insertions. The windows are in a derelict state, originally timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 8 over 8, without horns. At the east end stands a two- and three-storey building in basalt rubble, returning to the south, derelict with intermediate floors missing and overgrown on the outside.

Further ruinous building: Detached and standing to the south of the above is a ruinous three-storey building of rectangular plan in basalt rubble with dressed stones at the corners and traces of harling. Rectangular window openings have flat arched heads of shaped voussoirs, but are either blocked with concrete blocks or left open altogether. The building is roofless.

Mill Road gateway building: Detached and standing to the south-east of the above, at the Mill Road gateway to the site, is a two-storey basalt rubble building, gabled with squared quoins, on a segmental-arched basement storey. The building was formerly derelict but has been re-roofed with new floors inserted and modern replacement windows in hardwood that do not follow the original glazing pattern. Abutting the north-west corner is a retaining wall of basalt rubble to the driveway from Mill Road.

Two-storey house: Detached and standing just to the south of the dated 1868 office building is a two-storey house of mid-19th century date. The entrance front is five windows wide and gabled, with a slated roof of Bangor blue slates in regular courses and red brick chimneys. Walls are rendered, lined, and blocked. Windows are timber sliding sash with horns. The doorway is plain and rectangular, with a stairway fitted with later metal balustrading. The only feature of interior interest is a segmental-headed window to the main room at ground floor, which has simple Art Nouveau patterns in leaded coloured glass to the toplights. The interior is otherwise without architectural interest.

HISTORICAL NOTE

The early buildings containing the bleaching machinery were described in 1840 as permanently built of stone and slated, and comprised: one building of three storeys measuring 52 feet by 30 feet 3 inches, with a high breast wheel 11 feet in diameter; one of two storeys measuring 36 feet by 21 feet, with a high breast wheel 11 feet in diameter; a wash house of 51 by 27 feet with a high breast wheel 11 by 7 feet; a lapping house of two storeys measuring 48 by 21 feet; a boiling house of two storeys measuring 27 by 27 feet, including a part one storey high; a carpenter's shop of three storeys measuring 41 by 21 feet; and a storehouse of two storeys measuring 52 by 27 feet. No wheels now survive, but some of the early buildings remain in part, though not easily identifiable. The rear return to the office block and the Bleach House block were both recorded as ruins on the Ordnance Survey map of 1893.