4, 6, 7, 8, 17 And 26, Main Street Buildings Numbers 1, 2, 3, 3A, Paper Mill (Former), Guardbridge

Buildings 4, 6, 7, 8, 17 and 26, Main Street; Buildings 1, 2, 3, 3A, and Paper Mill (Former), Guardbridge. Grade B.

This is a rare survival of an imposing irregular terrace of industrial buildings creating a distinctive unified streetscape fronting Guardbridge's Main Street. The complex predominantly dates from the earlier to mid and later 19th century, apparently incorporating fabric from 1810.

The original core was the Seggie whisky distillery (building 4), established circa 1810. Fine polychromatic brick ranges (buildings 2, 3, 17 and 26), probably from the 1860s, were grouped around an inner yard to the rear of building No 3. All early structures were incorporated into the 1873 paper mill. The paper mill additions adopted the pilastered and mutuled theme of the original ranges, unusually creating a continuity of design rarely associated with early industrial development. The buildings are painted rubble and brick with multi-pane glazing patterns and some top-hopper openings to Main Street elevations. Roofing is in grey slates with cast-iron rainwater goods.

The ranges run from south to north along the Main Street elevation in a continuous, irregular terrace.

Mill Building 1 (Raw Materials and Finished Goods Store; former No 3 Machine House and Mill) dates from 1887. It is a single-storey, 14-bay street elevation range with a vehicular gate adjoining at the south and opening onto the irregular terrace to the north. The whitewashed brick elevation comprises alternate segmental-headed window and blank bays, all mutuled, with dividing pilasters, some bearing iron tie plates. The roof is stepped and piended, steeply pitched to accommodate equipment for the extraction process. The interior retains a queen-post roof and travelling crane. The inner rear (east) elevation has similar windows and a gabled dormer housing a fan, with a small lean-to projection to advanced bays at right under a higher roofline.

Mill Building 2 (Motor House; former Engine House) is a tall single-storey, 2-bay, piend-roofed rectangular-plan street elevation range in whitewashed brick with two tall round-headed windows. The polychrome inner rear (east) elevation features a full-height transomed tripartite opening with boarded timber outer lights flanking a glazed centre. The left return (southeast) has steps up to a part-glazed timber door below a full-height window.

Mill Building 3 (Plant House; former Beater House and Chemical Preparation) is a tall 2-storey, 7-bay street range extending at rear into mill buildings 3A and 26. It is whitewashed brick with regular fenestration to mutuled and pilastered bays. A later slate-hung dormer-type ventilator is located left of centre. The interior contains cast-iron columns and a timber-lined kingpost-type roof.

Mill Building 3A (Broke Store) is a piend-roofed brick inner range, possibly later than mill buildings 3, 17 and 26, oversailing the cartway between the rear (east) elevation of building 3 and the west elevations of buildings 26 and 17.

Mill Building 17 (Chemical Dye Make-up Systems; possibly former Seggie Distillery Coffey-still House) is exceptionally tall, comprising 5 bays with a piend roof and polychromatic brick construction. It features almost full-width horizontal rooflights to east and west.

Mill Building 26 (Dye House; former Drive Area for Paper Machine 1) is a small piend-roofed, polychromatic brick range, single and 2-storey, running north-south. It has segmental-headed windows to the west and to the first floor south. The 2-storey block contains two distinctive rectangular-plan timber ridge ventilators and a fine cast-iron spiral stair with barley twist balusters in the interior.

Mill Building 4 (Bleaching Process Make-up Plant; probably former Seggie 1810 Distillery Building) is a 3-storey, 6-bay rectangular-plan street elevation range with blocked pedestrian and vehicular openings at ground level. Gabled brick screens project above the roof pitch at north and south. The building is whitewashed snecked rubble with bays mutuled with dividing pilasters. The first floor has top-hopper opening windows to three bays at right of centre, and one window to each bay at second floor. The east (rear) elevation is largely blank except for a vehicular door at outer left adjacent to a whitewashed brick projection over the cartway (north elevation of building 3A).

Mill Buildings 6, 7 and 8 (Paper Store, Cartway and Oil Store; former Pulp, Rag, Straw and Broke Stores) comprise a tall 2-storey, 11-bay whitewashed rubble street elevation range. A sliding timber door provides a cartway entrance below a 'GUARDBRIDGE MILL' bracketed clock at the centre; a further blocked vehicular entrance is at right and four windows at left. Regular fenestration serves the first floor. Three distinctive circular ridge ventilators crown the range. The east (rear) elevation has four windows grouped to the left over a vaulted cartway; bays to the right feature a centre door and flanking windows to each floor.