Annalong Corn Mill, The Harbour, Annalong, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4AS

Annalong Corn Mill is a water-powered milling complex of national significance, situated at the harbour in Annalong, County Down. Dating from the early 1800s, it represents one of the very few mills in the province still capable of working under a live water supply and is of considerable technical completeness. The complex is picturesque in its landscape setting and enhances the character of the adjacent harbour.

The mill complex comprises four main structures: a water-powered mill for grinding oats, wheat and animal feed; a grain-drying kiln; an engine house; and a store. All buildings are constructed from Silurian schist and snecked granite rubble with natural slate roofs that are pitched, coped, and fitted with cast-iron rainwater goods.

The mill itself is two storeys high and cut into a south-facing slope, with a disused chimney stack at its left gable. Sliding sash windows are set at ground and first floor levels, with a further sliding sash window at first floor in the west gable. An external waterwheel, measuring 4.4 metres in diameter by 1.2 metres wide and constructed of cast iron and wood, sits below the west gable window. The wheel operates on a high-breastshot feed system. Entry to the mill is via a plain door at first floor level on the north (rear) elevation.

A two-storey kiln abuts the west elevation of the mill. It features a chimney on its west gable and a fixed square ventilator set in the middle of its ridge. A small sliding sash window is positioned at first floor level. The basement firehole is accessed through a small lean-to extension on the west elevation.

A one-storey engine shed stands at the north-east corner of the mill, level with its first floor. The east elevation is of stone with a sliding sash window; the west elevation is brick with a fixed window. A tall brick chimney, now redundant, formerly signified the presence of a steam engine. Double doors occupy the north elevation, and the headrace to the wheel runs along the east wall. Two circular metal cooling tanks for the engine are positioned above the headrace.

A two-storey store abuts the north elevation of the kiln. The first floor is accessed from its north gable, with basement entry from a door in the west elevation. The upper floor is lit by fixed windows on its east and west elevations.

Water abstraction from the Annalong River occurs at a masonry weir known locally as the Battery, upstream from the road bridge to the west. The headrace is culverted beneath the road and continues along an open channel to the mill. The tailrace directs spent water into the sea at the river mouth.

Historical Development

The mill is thought to have been erected in the early 1800s, succeeding an earlier cornmill a short distance upstream. Alexander Nimmo's 1821 map shows only the cornmill proper at this location. The 1835 valuation book describes it as possessing two pairs of millstones. Between 1835 and 1859, the kiln and store were added; the 1859 Ordnance Survey map confirms their presence. The 1861 valuation book records three sets of stones, indicating a complete refurbishment in the mid-nineteenth century.

A steam engine and associated engine house were installed in the 1890s as an auxiliary drive. From 1901, the river was partly diverted at Annalong Weir, Dunnywater, to supply the Mourne Conduit to Belfast. The steam engine was superseded around 1930 by a Marshall engine. The mill ceased working approximately 1965.

Newry & Mourne District Council purchased the complex in 1982 and restoration commenced the following year. The work entailed re-roofing all buildings, re-erecting a collapsed chimney, inserting new floors, doors and windows, plastering walls as appropriate, and replicating smaller equipment items. Original materials and dimensions were followed where possible. The Council reopened the complex as a tourist and educational attraction in 1985, and it won a Civic Trust award in 1986.