Clanrye Mills, 10 Canal Quay, Newry, Co Down, BT35 6JB

Clanrye Mills

Clanrye Mills is a substantial mill complex in Venetian style situated at the corner of Canal Quay and New Street in Newry. The site comprises six distinct blocks of varying dates and purposes, together forming an important industrial landmark.

The principal structure is a four- and six-storey red brick building occupying the corner position. The main section rises six storeys plus attic and measures five openings wide to the canal and six openings wide to New Street. It is conjoined to the north on the canal elevation by a four-storey section five openings wide (originally six storeys), and to the south on the New Street elevation by another four-storey section three openings wide. All sections are roofed in artificial slate, hipped to the corner and supported on steel trusses, with half-round metal gutters.

Both street elevations display red brick construction on a chamfered granite base course with a quarter-round profile to the corner. A continuous sandstone hood mould follows the profile of the ground floor openings. Moulded sandstone cill courses appear at the second and fourth floors, the latter doubling as a cornice on the four-storey sections. Courses of blue brick run underneath cill level at the first, third and fifth floors. The six-storey section features a machicolated sandstone cornice around its street elevations with a short continuation on the left gable, above which sits a moulded sandstone eaves course. At the middle of each street elevation are paired eaves dormers with sandstone coped verges and trefoil openings to apex. All openings are semi-circular headed with round-edged jambs. Window openings have granite cills and are now blocked with painted metal sheeting. Ornate cast-iron tie-bar washers are inserted across the top of each storey on the canal elevation.

The Canal Quay elevation displays five equally spaced window openings to each of the six storeys on the left. The four-storey section at right has a wide semicircular-headed door opening at ground floor left containing a pair of metal-sheeted doors, with three windows to its right. A loading door occupies the first floor middle with two windows either side. The remaining two upper floors each have five equally spaced windows in line with openings below.

The New Street elevation, on the six-storey section at right, features a wide semicircular-headed door opening at ground floor middle. On either side of this opening is a circular sandstone panel, each with a small hood mould over. The left panel reads "Clanrye Mills" and the right panel "Erected 1873", with the monogram "SS" (Sinclair and Sinclair) at centre on both. The door opening contains a pair of metal-sheeted doors and is flanked by paired windows at left and right. At first floor directly above the door are two windows, with loading doors at left and right. All upper floors have six equally spaced windows. The four-storey section to the left has two windows to the left and a door to the right at ground floor. Each upper floor has three equally spaced windows in line with ground floor openings. Exposed gables to all sections are smooth rendered. The rear of the block is cement rendered and abutted by more recent buildings and four tall circular metal grain silos.

Block 2 is a four-storey building on the quayside abutting the four-storey section of the brick mill. It appears to date from the earliest phase of the mill complex and is four openings wide. It has a hipped corrugated-asbestos roof on metal trusses with half-round metal gutters. The principal elevation faces east to the quay with smooth-rendered walls over random rubble. Metal tie-rod washers are fitted to all floors. At ground floor left is a large double-leaf metal-sheeted door in a horizontal-headed opening, with three window openings to its right; the right window is now infilled whilst the other two are blocked with sheeting. All upper-floor openings are likewise blocked with sheeting. All openings have segmental heads, granite cills and metal security grilles. At the middle of the first floor is a loading door (now infilled) with two windows either side. Each of the two upper floors has five windows in line with openings below. Below the cill of the second window from the left on the second floor is a granite plaque reading "Sinclair and Son 1867 Steam Mills". The exposed section of the right gable is smooth rendered. A two-storey smooth-rendered building with corrugated-asbestos monopitch roof is abutted to the back wall to eaves level.

Block 3 is a two-storey façade wall to the canal, measuring nine openings wide. The cement-rendered walls feature banded rustication to the ground floor. A projecting string course between ground and first floor carries a painted sign reading "Sands Millers Grain […Me]rchants". A moulded eaves cornice with rendered blocking course tops the elevation. All openings are infilled; window cills have been removed. A semicircular-headed pedestrian opening stands at the left, an almost-flat vehicle entrance at the right, and six semicircular-arched window openings across. At first floor is a loading door at the sixth opening from the left, with the remaining eight openings being segmental-headed windows. The back of the façade is abutted at right by a modern double-pile single-storey shed with curved corrugated-metal roofs raised at the east in profiled metal to accommodate internal meal bins. A two-storey shed with modern profiled flat metal roof abuts the façade at back left.

Block 4 is a modern two-storey office building on New Street constructed in brick with an artificial slate roof, including a two-storey rear return. In the courtyard behind is a large drive-on weighing machine. The site entrance comprises a pair of steel gates over which a concrete beam reads "Robert Sands Ltd".

Block 5 is a two-storey stable block on New Street with its gable facing the street; the left half of the building appears to have been demolished. It has a natural slate monopitch roof falling to the yard and semicircular metal gutters. The walls are of random rubble granite brought to courses with stepped red brick jambs and flat brick heads to openings; windows have granite cills. The east façade facing the yard is five openings wide with painted tongued-and-grooved doors in openings 2 and 4 from the left, and modern half-top opening windows in the remaining openings. The first floor has similar windows to all openings except the fourth from left, which contains a tongued-and-grooved loading door. The north gable is of brick. A one-storey contemporary extension with monopitch natural slate roof, brick-trimmed random rubble walls, door and window to the yard abuts the main block. The south gable facing the street is smooth rendered with a tongued-and-grooved door at first floor. The rear elevation, originally an internal party wall, is of partly plastered random rubble.

Block 6 occupies the west side of the premises and contains Belfast truss roofs. It is a single-storey double-pile building with felted Belfast truss roofs to each pile. The walls are of random rubble except to the yard, which is of concrete block (originally open) with metal sliding doors. Each pile contains five trusses, all estimated at 10 to 11 metres span. The diagonals to the trusses are not parallel, indicating an early design.