Rademan mill, 90 Ballynahinch Road, Rademan, Crossgar, Co Down, BT30

Rademan Mill is a large flour mill complex at 90 Ballynahinch Road, Crossgar, County Down, built in several phases throughout the 19th century. The group comprises a substantial part-four, part-two storey mill building, a sprawling two-to-two-and-a-half storey house with attached offices, a long two storey gabled warehouse, and an adjacent single storey carthouse. The whole is an increasingly rare example of an intact and self-contained industrial grouping, picturesquely sited in a hollow on the banks of the Ballynahinch River, roughly two miles east of Crossgar, within an otherwise unaltered rural landscape. The complex is now vacant but appears to be in relatively good condition and maintained on a regular basis. It is approached via a long curving drive off the Ballynahinch Road, at the entrance to which stand a set of late Victorian decorative iron gates with plain square rendered pillars whose caps have been removed. The large yard around which the various buildings are grouped is surfaced in tarmac.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

It is believed that the first mill on this site was a two storey dry flax mill, built by a Samuel Crookshank around 1804. A sixteen-foot waterwheel drove approximately 96 spindles, expanded to 136 spindles by 1805. This is the earliest known example of water-powered dry spinning in Ulster, a technique developed in England fifteen to twenty years earlier and fostered in Ireland by the Trustees of the Linen and Hempen Manufacturers of Ireland. The coarse yarn produced could not compete in quality with hand-spun material and the business went bankrupt. In 1811 Crookshank sold the mill to James McRoberts of Listooder, who by 1816, according to the Ordnance Survey Memoirs, had converted it to a corn and flour mill, extending the building in the process. Around the same time he also added a two storey dwelling house to the site. At this stage there was a two-stone capacity flour mill still driven off the original wheel, and also a single storey threshing mill powered by a twelve-foot diameter by two-foot wide wheel.

Both the original corn mill and the house are shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1834, with the dwelling on the site of the present house and a long single storey block on the site of the warehouse building, which contemporary valuation records suggest was probably the threshing mill. Sometime between 1836 and around 1858, probably in the early 1840s, the large four storey section was added to the mill; the warehouse section may have been added at the same time, as both it and the enlarged mill appear on the revised Ordnance Survey map of 1858. The carthouse had also been built by this stage. The second valuation of 1863 records, alongside the early 19th century mill, a new flour mill driven by a fifteen-foot three-inch diameter by ten-foot wide breast wheel. The threshing mill is no longer mentioned and a twelve horsepower steam engine is recorded, though no trace of this now survives. The mill, which worked day and night, contained five pairs of millstones: two for maize and three for wheat. The present house appears to date from 1889, though it is possible that the original early 19th century dwelling was simply remodelled at that time; the large rear portion including the office may have been added in 1889 or somewhat later, perhaps in the early 1900s. Flour production appears to have ceased in the 1950s, with much of the machinery subsequently removed.

THE FLOUR MILL

The mill is a large part-four, part-two storey building with a series of offshoots to the rear (west). The tall four storey section, added around the 1840s, is rubble-built. The original two storey section to the north end and the offshoots are part-rendered and part-rubble-finished. Most roof sections are gabled and slated, and windows are relatively small, the majority filled with Georgian-paned sash frames.

The long front façade faces roughly east. To the left is the four storey rubble-finished section. At ground floor level there is a large timber-sheeted sliding door, with two small six-over-six sash windows with brick dressings to its left, and five similar windows to its right, the furthest of which is blocked with breeze blocks. At first floor level there are seven matching windows aligned with those below; between the sixth and seventh windows from the left are two timber-sheeted loft doors of differing sizes, beneath which is a narrow timber ledge, with a large projecting flat-roofed hood above both. At second and third floor levels there are nine windows in the same style. To the right the façade drops to two storeys and is rendered. At ground floor level are four square windows with modern fixed-light frames; there appears originally to have been a door between the second and third of these. At first floor level are four windows with frames matching those on the four storey section, but larger. To the far right is a lower two storey section set back behind the line of the main façade. At ground floor level there is a small single storey lean-to with a two-over-one sash window to its east face; to the right of the lean-to is a small plain sash window. At first floor level there is a larger six-over-six sash window.

The south façade is four storeys and rubble-finished, consisting of a gable that merges with a four storey lean-to section to the left. At ground floor level to the left is a large timber-sheeted double door, with a boarded-up window opening immediately to its right, and two smaller windows beyond that, matching those on the front of the four storey section. At first floor level to the left is a similar small window, with one more window on each of the two storeys above. Two similar windows appear at attic level high on the gable.

The north-facing gabled façade is two storey, rendered, and has a plain sash window at attic level. The exposed uppermost section of the north gable of the four storey section has two attic-level windows matching those on the front.

The rear elevation is complex. To the left, at the rear of the original two storey section, is a small single storey lean-to with a rendered façade and a small sash window to its west face. This lean-to abuts a larger two storey gabled projection with attic level, which is part-rendered and part-rubble-faced. On its north face there is a small window to each floor, with frames as elsewhere; at attic level on its west-facing gable there is a larger two-over-two sash window. To the left on the rear façade of the four storey section is a large two-and-a-half storey gabled projection with a rubble façade; this appears to be the structure that houses, and may still contain, the waterwheel of note. On its south face there is a timber-sheeted door to the right at ground floor level, with a small one-over-two sash window to its left; at first floor level to the right is a six-pane window (apparently reduced in size from an original larger opening); and at attic level on the west-facing gable is a similar window. To the north of the projection the ground level is considerably higher, making the projection appear single storey on that side; on its north face there are two small sash windows (six-over-six and two-over-two). To the right of the projection is the rear façade of the main four storey section. At ground floor level to the left is a large segmental-headed opening; immediately to its right is a boarded-up window opening, with a further window matching the front façade to the far right. At first floor level to the left is a six-over-two sash window, with three six-over-six sash windows at the uppermost floor.

THE HOUSE AND ATTACHED OFFICES

To the east of the mill is the large sprawling two-to-two-and-a-half storey house with integral mill offices. The building is complex and irregular in appearance, consisting of a relatively typical late Victorian two storey residence with canted bay windows, a flat-roofed porch and a shallow hipped roof, merging to the south with a much larger, plainer, gabled section with offshoots to east and west. Documentary evidence suggests that the overtly residential hipped-roof portion at the front is an early 19th century house that was completely remodelled in 1889, a date that appears over one of its doorways. The large section to the rear may have been added at this time, though its overall styling suggests it dates from around 1910 to 1920, or was built in stages leading up to those years.

The front elevation faces north. Roughly at its centre is the symmetrical front façade of the house section. This has a central flat-roofed porch with a panelled timber door to the front and a rectangular fanlight; to the east and west faces of the porch are tall, narrow two-pane windows. The porch is finished in rusticated render with a cornice course and decorative moulded surrounds to the openings. Directly above the porch at first floor level is a plain sash window with surrounds matching those of the porch. To either side of the porch are full-height, flat-roofed canted bays with plain sash windows to all faces and both floors, with matching mouldings. The façade is finished in plain render with moulded quoins and an eaves cornice.

To the left of the front elevation is a two storey gabled section set back from the line of the house section. At first floor level on its north face is a two-over-two sash window. At ground floor level there is a single storey hipped-roofed porch projection with a panelled timber door to the left on the north face and a casement window with stained glass to the right. The door has a decorative moulded surround with the date 1889 in the keystone. To the right half of the north elevation, the taller gabled rear section can be seen rising above the roofline of the front hipped-roof house section; this gable has two two-over-two sash windows, and its right-hand edge, where it is exposed, has a further two-over-two sash window at ground floor level. To the far right of the front elevation is a projecting single storey offshoot with a large metal water tank covering its entire roof and two sash windows to the north face (two-over-one and two-over-two).

On the east elevation, to the left, is the gable of an east-facing gabled projection, with a plain sash window to the right on the ground floor. Immediately to the right of the gable is the east face of the hipped-roof side porch, which has a two-over-two sash window. Above the porch, on the east façade of the house section, is a large semicircular-headed window with a mullioned and transomed frame and stained glass. To the right of this is a plain sash window, with another at ground floor level to its right.

On the west elevation, to the left, is the west façade of the house section, with plain sash windows at both ground and first floor levels; the ground floor window sits within a semicircular arched recess. To the right is the short west face of the single storey offshoot, which has a two-over-two sash window with the word OFFICE painted above it. To the right of the offshoot, on the west façade of the large rear section, are a four-over-four sash window and a timber-sheeted door at ground floor level, and two widely spaced two-over-two sash windows at first floor level.

The rear elevation is largely the rear façade of the large rear section. To the left is a large two-and-a-half storey gabled bay with three four-over-four sash windows at ground floor level, two at first floor, and two two-over-two sash windows at attic level. To the right of the bay there are four sash windows at ground floor level (the first two-over-two, the remainder plain) and four two-over-two sash windows at first floor level. To the far left of the rear elevation is the south face of the offshoot, which has a timber-sheeted door.

The large rear section, the offshoot, and the side porch are all finished in plain render with some moulded string courses. The west and south façades of the house section are also plain-rendered. The roof of the rear section has a slight overhang with plain bargeboards and short finials. The building has three rendered chimney stacks and a cast iron rooflight to the front of the roof of the house section. All roof sections are slated. Cast iron rainwater goods throughout.

THE WAREHOUSE

To the southwest of the house is a long two storey gabled building that is believed to have served as a warehouse. It is rubble-built with brick dressings and granite quoins, with a slated roof. A small single storey gabled section has been attached to the east side, and to the south of this is a rubble-built lean-to, which may be original.

On the north gable of the main section there is a large segmental-arched opening with an internal sliding door, brick-dressed as are all other openings. Above the arch at upper floor level is a roundel window with tracery. On the long east façade there are four small openings, mainly louvered, near eaves level. To the far right at ground floor level is the relatively large lean-to, with a small barred window to the south face and a similar window to the east face with a timber-sheeted door to its right. This lean-to merges to the right with the attached gabled section, which has two small Georgian-paned windows to its east face and a large flat-arched garage-door-like opening to its north gable face, which is rendered.

On the south gable of the main building is an upper-level timber-sheeted door reached via a stone staircase, with a doorway opening to the south face of the staircase. On the long west face at ground floor level there are three timber-sheeted doors and seven small six-over-six sash windows, with seven similar windows at first floor level.

THE CARTHOUSE AND OTHER BUILDINGS

Immediately to the west of the warehouse, alongside the riverbank, is a relatively large gabled building that may have served as a carthouse. It is finished in a mixture of rubble, render and brick and has been altered over the years. On the north façade to the left there is a timber-sheeted sliding door, with a small Georgian-paned window to its left and two to its right. To the right is another, larger, sliding door. The remainder of the north façade to the right consists of a series of large, linked, segmental-headed openings that were probably all once open but are now largely filled with timber sheeting punctuated by windows of varying shapes that appear to have been salvaged from elsewhere. The former arched opening to the far right is filled with brick. On the east gable an irregularly angled single storey lean-to is attached, with a rubble façade and two timber-sheeted doors and two small windows to its east face. On the west gable there is a large flat-arched opening with an ill-fitting timber-sheeted double door, and a six-pane window to its right. This gable is largely rendered, though where render has fallen away, brick construction is revealed at this end. The south façade of the building could not be clearly inspected due to its proximity to the riverbank.

RIVER STRUCTURES

The water infrastructure associated with the mill was recorded by Dr Fred Hammond in a report for the Environment and Heritage Service in 1989, and in 2004 the structures remained in a similar condition. A substantial weir, now gone, once blocked the river, with the upstream portion of the riverbed serving as a mill pond. Water was diverted along an open headrace before entering a dry-stone culvert eight feet wide by seven feet high some distance from the mill. The tailrace is of similarly impressive construction. The substantial remains of an eel trap are also to be found in the vicinity of the headrace intake.