The Corn Mill, Mary Brook, 11 Raleagh Road, Drummaconagher, Crossgar, Downpatrick, Co. Down, BT30 9JG

The Corn Mill, Mary Brook, Drummaconagher

The Corn Mill forms part of an extensive and largely complete small-scale 'Georgian vernacular' rural milling complex dating from the 18th and early 19th centuries. The wider grouping includes water-powered two-storey corn and flax mills and a single-storey stable block, all probably dating from the mid to late 1700s, a two-storey miller's house of 1837, and subsidiary structures including a small cottage and storehouse of around the 1840s. The grouping was abandoned in the 1950s and lay largely derelict until the early 1970s, when it was acquired and restored, with the corn mill continuing to operate until the late 1990s. To the rear of the house are large two-storey and single-storey wings, a section of which appears originally to have been a barn. The whole grouping has a uniform, semi-vernacular appearance, with harled and whitewashed facades, slated roofs, Georgian-paned sash windows, and timber-sheeted doors, complemented by an abundance of traditional wrought iron farm gates, stone walling, and simple gate pillars. The complex is picturesquely set at the end of a lane to the west of Raleagh Road, roughly two and a half miles east of Ballynahinch, with the Ballynahinch River immediately to the west and a mill pond to the south.

The Corn Mill

The corn mill, which includes the kiln house, lies at the north-east corner of the complex. It is a relatively large two-storey gabled building with a harled and whitewashed facade and a slated roof. To the north and south are relatively large one-and-a-half-storey gabled projections; the southern one, the fan house, is set side-on in double-pile fashion. The mill race passes under the building at the east end.

The main entrance to the mill is in the west gable and consists of a low, right-of-centre timber-sheeted door. To the right of this is a set of external weighing scale apparatus covered by a large gabled hood (the stone weights for the scales have been placed near the entrance to the house). To the upper left is a timber-sheeted loft door with a metal hoop attached beneath.

To the far left on the long north elevation is a one-and-a-half-storey gabled projection. On its north-facing gable there is a timber-sheeted door to the ground floor and a small nine-pane Georgian-paned window to the upper floor. To the left of the doorway the gable is abutted by a large square gate pillar. On the east face of the projection there is a window matching that on the gable, and on the west face there is a timber-sheeted ground-floor door.

On the north facade of the main section of the building there is a timber-sheeted vehicle doorway left of centre. To its left is a window matching those on the gable of the projection but with six panes, and to the far right is a tiny four-pane window. At first-floor level there are five windows. The second, third, and fifth windows match those on the gable of the projection. The first window is an irregular shape, cut across by the roof of the projection — which is not original, having been added some time between around 1834 and around 1858 — and the fourth window is broader than the rest and incorporates a louvred section. Attached to the north-east corner of the building is a rendered and whitewashed pair of farm gateposts with a wrought iron gate.

To the right of the south elevation is the larger of the one-and-a-half-storey gabled projections, this being the fan house, which is probably original. Its east gable has a large flat-arched vehicle doorway with timber-sheeted double doors, above which is a small louvred opening. The south face has two windows matching those on the north elevation but larger. The remainder of the south elevation, to the left of the projection, is blank. The main west gable has a window to the upper floor matching those on the north elevation. All sections of the roof are slated, with a small ventilation turret to the main ridge of the main roof. Rainwater goods are cast iron. Note: for simplicity, only the four main compass points have been used in the above description.

Historical Background

The corn mill (without the smaller northern projection), the flax mill, and the stable are all shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1834 and recorded in the valuation returns of 1836. These buildings were graded B+ to B- by the valuers, suggesting that most were considered at least twenty years old at that time. Around 1837 the current miller's house was built and further buildings were added to the complex, including a projection to the north side of the corn mill, all of which appear on the revised Ordnance Survey map of 1858.

The valuation of 1861 records that the house and mill were then in the possession of Christiana Silcock, who leased them from Alexander John and Robert Stewart. The buildings listed include: the house measuring 14½ yards by 5 by 2 storeys, with a return of 6 by 5 by 2 storeys; offices of various dimensions; a slated store of 15 by 5 by 1 storey; a slated shed of 6 by 4 by 1 storey; a second scutch mill, slated; a shed-store wing of 6 by 3 by 1 storey; and a pig house of 9½ by 3½ by 1 storey. The house was graded A, with all other buildings graded B, suggesting that most of these were the same structures listed in 1836. The valuers also mention a barn on loft, a flax mill on basement containing three stocks with rollers, a breast water wheel of 14 feet with buckets of 4 feet, which worked briskly for four months of the year, and four stocks and a set of rollers. As regards the corn mill, they record three pairs of stones — for shelling, grinding, and hard corn — and one stone for dressing pearl barley, powered by an 18-foot breast-shot wheel with 5-foot buckets, which also worked briskly for four months of the year.

The Silcock family, mentioned in both the 1836 and 1861 valuations, are believed to have acquired Mary Brook around 1790 to 1800 from a family named Traill. The Traill connection with the area dates back to 1647, when James Traill, an officer in the Parliamentary army, was granted the townland of Drumnaconagher. His grandson, also named James, is believed to have been the first to actually settle within the townland, building a house there in 1721. Walter Harris, writing in his Ancient and Present State of the County of Down in 1744, refers to this house — then occupied by James's son, Hamilton Traill — as 'Marybrook, seated on a rising ground near a small lake… two miles SSE of Ballynahinch.' On the face of it this reference appears puzzling, since the present Mary Brook does not appear to be sited on rising ground, nor is it near a small lake, and it is closer to three miles east of Ballynahinch rather than south-south-east. However, if account is taken of the fact that the ground level to the north of the flax mill drops considerably — a drop which may have been more pronounced in the mid-1700s — this could explain the reference to rising ground, while the small lake may simply refer to a mill pond or flood plain associated with the nearby river. The discrepancy in mileage is explained by Harris's use of the longer Irish mile, as was common at the time, and the anomalous direction from Ballynahinch is the result of inaccurate mapping: a contemporary map entitled A New and Correct Map of Ye County of Down, apparently produced to accompany Harris's book, locates places almost directly east of Ballynahinch — such as Kilmore — considerably further south than they actually are.

At its height in the late 19th century, the Mary Brook complex employed around 150 people, not only in corn and flax milling but also in a small hemstitching factory. The corn mill continued in full-time use until after the First World War, with production coming to a halt by the 1930s. The Silcock family continued to reside at Mary Brook until the early 1950s, after which the site was abandoned and fell into decay. In the early 1970s the complex was acquired by Mr Lewis-Crosby, a senior figure within the National Trust, who restored the buildings and brought the corn mill back into use. The present owner acquired the complex in 1998, and at the time of listing in October 2000 the corn mill was not in operation.

The corn mill, together with its attached gates, is considered of special interest both as an important constituent part of the complex and in its own right as a very well-preserved example of this type of building. The preservation and character of the group as a whole are considered to be of national interest, and the scarcity of such an intact group is also noted.