Scutch Mill, Lisgallon Road, Ennish TD, Castlecaufield Dungannon

Scutch Mill, Lisgallon Road, Ennish Townland, Castlecaulfield, Dungannon

Small scutch mills were once scattered across the Ulster countryside, but only a very small number have survived in anything approaching their original condition. This example — probably dating from around 1850, though it may incorporate the fabric of a structure that predates 1834 — is one of those rare survivors. It is largely original both inside and out, retaining its machinery including the remains of the water wheel and a splendidly well-maintained 1940s diesel engine. It represents an important piece of vernacular industrial heritage and shares group value with the nearby surviving corn kiln. The fact that the building began life as a corn mill adds further to its interest.

The site as a whole is a small-scale vernacular mill ensemble comprising a three-storey scutch mill (originally a corn mill) of around 1850, possibly incorporating the fabric of a pre-1834 structure; an adjacent engine house; a two-storey corn kiln dated 1850; and the remains of what was formerly the miller's house. The buildings occupy rolling countryside at the end of a lane off Lisgallon Road, roughly halfway between Dungannon and Aughnacloy, just north of the River Oona. The scutch mill and engine house lie on the south side of the site, with the remains of the mill race running between them; the corn kiln stands to the north, and the ruinous former miller's house to the north-east.

The Scutch Mill

This is a three-storey former corn mill that may originally have been built before 1834 as a two-storey structure and later raised by a storey. It is a relatively plain but solid-looking rectangular building constructed in field stone with roughly dressed quoins, and a gabled roof finished with natural slate. There is a projecting eaves course but no rainwater goods.

The front façade (facing south-east, referred to here as the east for ease of description, with all other orientations adjusted accordingly) has a large sliding timber door to the right side of the ground floor and a small personnel door to the left. Both openings are flat-headed and both doors are timber-sheeted. Above these, six evenly arranged flat-headed window openings are distributed across the upper floors; their frames are missing. Attached to the south gable are the remains of the water wheel, which was fed by the mill race drawing water from the nearby River Oona. Metal portions of the wheel have survived, but most of the timber paddles have perished. The west façade is blank; a series of pattress plates have been installed to stabilise the walls. The north façade is symmetrical and is approached via a full-width ramp that provides vehicular access to a first-floor door. This door opening is flat-headed with a stone segmental-headed relieving arch above it. At first-floor level there is also a flat-headed window opening fitted with a timber-sheeted shutter.

The Engine House

To the south side of the water wheel is the engine house, which may also predate 1834. It is single-storey with a loft level, with walls of rubble field stone and a gabled roof covered with corrugated iron. The east façade has a large steel-clad sliding door in a flat-headed opening that was subsequently widened by the insertion of a concrete lintel, with the opening remade in concrete block. The southern gable is blank. The west façade has a series of bricked-up openings. The northern gable has a high-level flat-headed window opening retaining the remains of a sash window. Power take-offs span between the engine house and the mill.

The Corn Kiln

This is a two-storey gabled structure of 1850, with single-storey additions to both the north and south gables. The walls are of rubble field stone with roughly dressed quoins, and the roof is finished with natural slate; there is a projecting eaves course, but the rainwater goods are missing. The west front façade has a single door opening to the right and various randomly arranged window openings. All door and window openings are flat-headed and have various timber and corrugated-iron coverings. Below the eaves there is a carved datestone reading "Rebuilt by J Y Burgess 1850." Attached to the north gable, set off-centre, is a single-storey addition with a large vehicle opening. At first-floor level in the gable of the main block there is a small window opening. Attached to the south gable is a single-storey lean-to addition with a small door opening to the west and a corrugated-iron roof. At first-floor level in the gable of the main block there is a small bricked-up window opening.

The Miller's House

The former miller's house to the north-east is a ruinous, roofless single-storey gabled building with what appears to have been an attached outbuilding to the south side. The walls are of rubble stone with brick window headers. To the front (east) façade there is a shallow porch positioned slightly left of centre, with a window opening to either side. No doors or window frames remain.

Historical Background

According to historical notes displayed within the mill, the mill race was made in 1770, indicating milling activity of some description on this site from that date onwards. The Ordnance Survey map of 1834 shows a corn kiln on the site of the present (now disused) kiln to the north, and three other buildings to the south marked as a corn mill, one of which appears to occupy the footprint of the present scutch mill. A further building is shown to the north, on the other side of the mill pond. The valuation carried out in September of the same year adds further detail: all structures were thatched, and the site comprised not only the corn mill and kiln but also a flax mill and two houses — one for the flax miller and one for the corn miller. All of these buildings were single-storey with the exception of the corn mill, which at 32½ feet by 21½ feet and 14 feet in height probably contained an upper level. Significantly, these measurements match the footprint of the present building. At that time the whole grouping was in the hands of a David Murry and was rated at £6.

The datestone on the present corn kiln records that it was "Rebuilt by J[ohn] Y[nyr] Burgess" — of Parkanaur Manor, Castlecaulfield — in 1850. The revised Ordnance Survey map of 1857 shows the kiln alongside the miller's house to the north-west and what appears to be the present scutch mill, though at that point it was still functioning as the corn mill. The valuation of around 1859 does not supply building dimensions, but the relatively high rateable value of £23 for the whole concern suggests the present mill was already standing in its three-storey form by that date. It too may have been rebuilt in 1850, but the fact that its plan matches the footprint recorded in 1834 suggests it may instead represent an older building raised by one storey. No obvious physical evidence in the coursing of the stonework has been identified to support or refute this.

Corn milling continued on the site under the direction of Michael Hughes from 1862 to 1901, and subsequently under a Barnes McClean. A valuers' office notebook entry from 1902 describes the mill as containing two pairs of stones — one for grinding and one for shelling — together with fans, sifters, and elevators, and notes that the mill had been idle for some time before the then-occupier recommenced work in October of that year, expecting only around two months' work annually.

In 1917 the property was purchased by W. S. Bennett and the corn mill was converted to a scutch mill. It continued to be driven by water power, but frequent water shortages during the summer months led Hugh John Bennett to introduce an engine in 1944, installed by A. S. McKee and Sons of Cranslough. At its peak the mill employed a workforce of eleven in 1945, and it continued working until 1950. Thereafter the building appears to have been used as a store until the early 2000s, when the present owner began a programme of restoration that was still ongoing at the time of listing.