Drumnascamph Mill, Cavan Rd, Rathfriland, Newry, Co Down, BT34 5LY

Drumnascamph Mill is a complex reflecting the growth of flax processing in the early 1860s, linked to events during the American Civil War. Although the brick chimney remains, too little of the original mill complex survives to support a formal listing.

The mill complex is situated on a hillside, aligned at right angles to the road and facing southwest, with the chimney at the lower end. The main mill building is a single-storey structure, originally covered by a pitched slate roof, now replaced with a corrugated metal monopitch roof. The walls are of random rubble construction; the front wall has been rebuilt in concrete blockwork and rendered with cement. A slightly taller two-storey section adjoins the road, featuring a pitched slate roof and a gable entrance at first floor level, which corresponds to the external ground level. This section is currently used as stables. The chimney is square in cross-section, built from brick and rests on a stone base. It tapers to a height of approximately 17 metres, with a corbelled-out section topped with what are likely granite blocks. A small flue hole is visible near the base, facing towards the mill.

A one-storey range along the road was formerly a row of workers’ houses. This range has also been altered, with a monopitch corrugated metal roof and smooth cement rendered walls, and is now used as stables.

The mill was not recorded in the second Valuation of around 1861 but appeared in the 1866 valuation revision, belonging to Samuel Davison. There is no evidence of water power; the mill was initially steam powered. Valued at £42.10s.0d, this suggests a substantial operation, likely built in the early to mid-1860s. The workers' houses are first mentioned in the 1876 valuations. Ownership passed to David Davison in 1888. A note in the valuation records refers to the mill being "boycotted," which may explain why it was described as vacant in the 1889 valuation and “at rest” in the 1894 valuation. At that time, it contained 14 stocks and one set of rollers. The 1902 Ordnance Survey map shows a block at the lower end of the complex, at right angles to the main building, which likely housed the engine and boiler house – these are now gone.