Drumalane Mill, Drumalane Road, Newry, Co Down, BT35 8AL

A granite multi-storey, multi-bay flax spinning mill with ancillary buildings situated east of Drumalane Road. The complex comprises seven principal structures: the main flax spinning mill, an engine room, a boiler house, a preparing department, an office, miscellaneous sheds, and a chimney. The functional descriptions below are taken from a 1961 plan held by the mill's owners.

1. Flax Spinning Mill

The spinning mill is a four-and-a-half storey building, fifteen bays wide, aligned east-west with its main façade facing north. The roof is hipped with natural slates and continuous skylights to all pitches. A rendered brick lift shaft with flat concrete roof rises at the south end. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods run over a projecting eaves course.

The walls are built of finely dressed and regularly coursed granite blocks, snecked and strap pointed, with projecting vee-jointed ashlar granite quoins. All windows are timber with granite cills, stepped jambs, and shallow segmental heads of red brick. Most windows have four-over-eight pane fenestration with pivoted upper sections.

On the main (north) façade, large sheeted double doors occupy the first and fifteenth bays at ground floor. The fifteenth bay door has a tripartite fanlight and leads to a stairwell; both doors are set in semicircular headed brick openings with stepped brick jambs featuring rounded corners. A smaller door at the ninth bay ground floor appears to be inserted into an existing window opening. A loading door at first floor eighth bay is similarly a recent insertion into a window opening. The ground floor windows to the second and third bays have semicircular brick heads.

A section of walling below each fourth bay window has been removed to enable access to toilets set into a metal framework externally affixed to the third and fourth bays. The landings to these toilets, which have brick walls, are enclosed in embossed cast-iron panelling. These landings give access to a metal fire escape descending the third bay. A metal water tank surmounts the attic toilet block.

The left (east) gable is abutted by the engine room. The rear (south) façade resembles the main façade but lacks the toilets and fire escape. Several new doors have been inserted into former window openings at ground floor. Some window heads on the right three bays have been renewed. The right (west) gable is pierced by a pair of two-over-four windows at second floor, level with the apex of the abutting building's roof. There is a smaller stairwell light between first and second floors, and another between second and third floors. Projecting from the top of the wall is a metal cantilevered hoisting beam.

2. Engine Room

This one-roomed building abuts the left (east) gable of the spinning mill and extends upward one-and-a-half floors. It has a monopitch natural slate roof and half-round metal rainwater goods. A narrow corrugated metal lean-to rises from the roof up the mill gable; this formerly enclosed the rope drives to the upper floors of the mill.

The façade of the engine room is red brick with a large double wooden door under a concrete lintel. Above is a recessed rectangular panel dressed with yellow brick. The left (east-facing) wall is of random rubble granite containing three two-over-six top-pivoted timber windows, all with granite cills and yellow brick stepped jambs and segmental heads. The rear wall is of similar construction to the east elevation and shares a stepped red brick quoin. A shallow red-brick slated lean-to with a two-over-six top-pivoted timber window (with concrete cill and head) abuts it on its south face.

3. Boiler House

To the left of the mill stands a three-storey, single-bay building aligned north-south. It formerly contained steam boilers on its ground floor. The roof is pitched and sheeted with corrugated asbestos with half-round asbestos rainwater goods. All ground floor walls are of coursed random granite rubble, with upper floors of red brick; between granite and brick runs a yellow brick string course. All windows have timber frames, yellow brick jambs and shallow segmental heads, and granite cills.

The north-facing gable was abutted at ground floor by a more recent concrete block building with slated monopitch roof, which had been demolished by re-inspection on 19th February 1998. The upper two floors each have three window openings, all infilled except the middle ones: on first floor this contains a four-over-two window, and on second floor there are louvres.

The left (east) elevation, running along the present eastern site boundary, has at ground floor a door at left and four window openings to right. The left-hand window has been infilled with concrete blocks, but the remaining three retain their timber two-over-two-over-two windows with pivoted middle panels. The first floor has eight timber three-over-three hopper-type windows. In line above on the second floor are eight louvred openings.

The rear (south) gable is abutted by another building at ground and first floor levels. There are three openings at second floor: louvres to left, window to centre, and infilled at right. The apex of this gable has been rebuilt or raised (presumably from hipped form), likely when the building was reroofed. Evidence of reroofing is also visible in a course of newer brick along the eaves.

The right (west) elevation has five windows at ground floor: three are fixed four-paned, one is a one-over-one top-hung replacement, and the fifth is obscured by building 6c. At first floor are eight four-over-two hopper windows, and at second floor eight louvred openings.

4. Preparing Department and Mechanics' Shop

This two-storey red brick building is L-shaped in plan and abuts the right (west) gable of the mill. The portion in line with the mill, which was the preparing department, is five windows wide and abuts the mill at first floor over a ground floor vehicular arch (with stepped red-brick jambs and semicircular head) providing passage to the rear of the mill. The right-angled return (mechanics' shop) is seven windows wide.

The roof is pitched with natural slate, featuring cylindrical ventilators along its apex and ogee cast-iron rainwater goods over projecting red brick eaves. The two walls facing into the yard are of coursed granite rubble at ground floor and finely dressed granite blocks in regular courses at first floor. There are three sets of double doors at ground floor, all trimmed with stepped red brick and each with a ten-paned transom light above. A metal stairway leads to a first floor door at the inside corner of the return; this is a later insertion into a window opening.

All windows have ten-over-ten-over-ten panes, timber frames, stepped red brick jambs and heads, and granite cills. Between ground and first floors on the yard-facing wall of the return is a series of cast-iron ventilators.

The north gable of the return is also of coursed granite rubble with dressed granite quoins (the yard corner quoin is vee-jointed). A one-storey link block to the office abuts it. A relatively modern cement-rendered shed abuts the west wall of the return from the second window opening southwards; some original ground floor openings have been altered inside.

The rear wall of the preparing department is of random granite rubble throughout. It is partly abutted by a single-storey, double-pile shed on the right side of the arch as approached from the front yard. There is a ten-over-ten-over-ten paned window above the arch, with identical windows along the first floor at west, all now infilled.

5. Office

A one-and-a-half storey, three-bay building aligned north-south at the west side of the yard. It has a pitched natural slate roof, ashlar granite chimneys with projecting copings to each gable, and modern metal rainwater goods. The roof has been modified with the insertion of a three-paned box dormer (with concrete cill) over the main entrance.

The walls are of finely dressed granite blocks in snecked regular courses over a projecting chamfered base course, with vee-jointed ashlar quoins. Both door and window openings have stepped red-brick jambs and shallow segmental heads; unless otherwise stated, all window cills are granite.

The entrance in the centre of the east wall (facing into the main yard) contains a painted timber double door, each leaf with two raised and fielded panels, with three-paned transom over. On either side is a three-over-six sliding sash window.

The north gable and rear (west) elevations are rendered in lined cement. The gable has a three-over-six and two-over-four sliding sash at ground floor and attic level respectively, the former with a metal security grille. The rear wall has two three-over-six windows (one sash, one fixed). The narrow gap between this building and building 4 has been infilled with a link block.

6. Miscellaneous Sheds and Chimney

Immediately south of and parallel to the main mill building is a long one-storey block incorporating three contiguous buildings; a tall chimney rises from the south-west corner of the east building. According to the 1961 plan, the west building (6a) was a bunching and dispatch room, the middle one (6b) a drying room, and the east building (6c) the preparing room. All have pitched corrugated asbestos cement roofs with half-round asbestos rainwater goods, and concrete heads and cills to the windows (all of which are timber).

Building 6a: The west block has three sets of four-over-four windows (top panel centrally pivoted) and two sets of sliding doors along its north façade, which is of concrete block construction. The west gable, which is blank, is partly of finely dressed granite blocks in regular courses and partly of coursed random rubble. This suggests the incorporation of an earlier structure in the present building. The south wall, also of concrete blockwork, has a fixed four-over-four window on each side of a sliding door. At its right end is a small concrete block monopitched annex.

Building 6b: The middle block, slightly higher than the west block, has brick north and south walls. Steel I-profile beams set vertically in the walls support a metal truss roof. The north facade has a sliding door at its east end with a six-pane window over; to its right are three timber six-over-three windows (bottom panel centrally pivoted). Its south wall has four nine-paned windows.

Building 6c: The east block has concrete block walls. Its north wall, which abuts the south gable of building 3, has a large sliding door at east with four sets of four-over-four windows (top panel centrally pivoted) to right. Its south wall has a door at right and five sets of four-over-four fixed windows to left.

At the south-west corner of this block is a tapered octagonal red-brick chimney which rises to a corbelled top and is braced with metal ties. The freshness of the bricks at top suggests a heightening or rebuild.

7. Mixing Room and Breaker House

A single-storey, double-pile block aligned north-south and abutting the south wall of building 4. The walls are of coursed random granite rubble with dressed stepped granite quoins. Both single-bay piles have pitched natural slate roofs with cylindrical ridge ventilators and ogee cast-iron gutters over projecting brick eaves; notably, there are finely-dressed ogee-moulded granite cornices at the corners which support the gutters. All openings have brick jambs and heads.

The original door at the north end of the east wall of this block has been widened. This wall also has four window openings: two are infilled and two contain ten-over-ten-over-ten top-pivoted timber windows. A small monopitched concrete block lean-to toilet block abuts the south gable of the east pile. There is a small window, probably a more recent insertion, to the left of this lean-to.

The south gable of the east pile has two fixed five-by-five paned timber windows, above which is a brick-trimmed roundel.

In the yard stands a modern shed of no architectural interest. According to the 1961 plan, there was also a gate house and tow store, but both have been demolished.