Mill House, 64 Baranailt Road, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 9HN

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Located on the northern side of the complex, immediately W of the mill pond and HB02/03/034B Lower Mill buildings, the Mill House is a linear, two-storey building with an exposed rubblestone section with coach arch to S, a more formal harled section in middle, and an attached former byre to N, with natural slate pitched roof, probably constructed pre-1830, but possibly lengthened (and perhaps also, heightened) in the mid 19th century and later. Three harled chimney stacks located to left, centre and right with stone coping and clay pots. Single-storey outbuilding with corrugated tin roof abuts the N end of the E elevation, running towards E, and a single-storey outbuilding with corrugated tin roof and two large openings abuts the S gable of the main block.

West elevation:
Main entrance elevation with pebble-dashed walls faces onto paved path and stone-surfaced parking area to front. Two-storey former byre at far left side with lower ridge level than main block, door opening with arched brick surround to centre of ground floor level, vegetation obscuring first floor level.
Ground floor L-R: Two window openings with 6/6 timber sliding sash windows, breakfront lean-to entrance porch with slate roof and painted timber front door, two large window openings with tripartite timber sliding sash frames (2/2, 6/6, 2/2), coach arch with red brick shallow arched opening and sheeted timber door, and set of stone steps with metal railing leading to upper patio area.
First floor L-R: Three window openings with 6/6 timber sliding sash windows, one large window opening centred over coach arch with tripartite timber sliding sash frames (2/2, 6/6, 2/2), short 20th C timber glazed door (raised off landing), sun room with lower ridge and eaves than main house, with timber & glazed door and side panel. Small paved patio area at top of steps, millstone on stone pier.

East elevation:
On far left, single-storey outbuilding with pitched corrugated metal roof, brick walls, and two large openings with replacement garage-type timber doors; then two-storey section with lower ridge and eaves than main block and first floor ‘sun room’ with 20th C metal railing & cantilevered timber balcony, timber & glazed door with glazed side panels above exposed rubblestone (covered in vegetation).
Ground floor L-R: door opening with shallow arched brick surround and timber sheeted door; coach arch with shallow arched brick surround and large timber sheeted door; then more ‘formal’ portion has harled walls with toothed stone quoins to each end and plain stone plinth; two window openings spaced wide apart, door opening with painted timber sheeted door; two further window openings (only the window to the immediate LHS of back door is original, all others are replacements with re-used original glazing). All windows on ground floor level are 6/6 timber sliding sash, with stone cills and rendered surrounds.
First floor L-R: Two window openings on first floor with brick surrounds and 2/2 timber sliding sash windows; then in more ‘formal’ portion, five window openings, all aligning with openings below, style and design as per those below.

At N end, lower-ridged two-storey former byre with harled surface, brick surround to archway opening with replacement timber sheeted door to centre of ground floor level, two window openings to first floor level with brick surrounds – left side boarded up with timber, right side has 2/2 timber sliding sash window. Replacement corrugated tin roof.
Running E at the NE end of the block is a single-storey outbuilding (Outbuilding 4 on map) with replacement barrelled timber truss roof, sheeted with corrugated iron; rubble and brick masonry walls.

North elevation
Abutted by lower two-storey former byre (described above), now used for storage.

South elevation
Abutted by single storey outbuilding (described above).

Materials:
Walls – exposed rubblestone, harling, pebble dash, red brick opening surrounds
Windows – single-glazed timber sliding sash (mostly replicated by current owner with original glazing re-used) on stone cills, plain timber glazing panels to sun room
Rainwater goods – painted metal

Setting
The mill house and associated mill buildings (HB02/03/034B & C) are located approximately 5km west of the town centre of Limavady, off a laneway on the south-east side of Baranailt Road. The Mill House is situated on the northern side of the complex, on the W side of the mill pond.

Historical information

A long narrow range of similar plan and location to the present house is shown on the 1830 OS map, just west of a small corn mill (see HB02.03.034B). Unfortunately neither the first valuation of 1831 or that 1856 supply any dimensions for this or any of the mill structures associated with this property, so we cannot determine the extent of the range at these dates, but it appears likely that it at least part of it was indeed a dwelling house, as one is mentioned in a sale advertisement of 1838. The various dates of construction are not known, but the house has clearly evolved in typical linear vernacular fashion, with the section between the northern and middle chimneystack probably constituting the original dwelling (which considering from the position of the doorways would seem to have been ‘direct entry’), the southern portion as far the archway probably incorporated at a later date, whilst the section beyond this was integrated next and the lower southernmost end (with the sun room) a relatively recent addition / adaptation.

In the 1831 valuation the property (corn mill, kiln, dwelling and flax mill included) was rated at only £2.12s.0d which suggests that it was a fairly modest concern and that the house itself may have been quite small at this point, possibly consisting of the abovementioned original portion only, (which may have been lower than at present and possibly thatched) with the rest of the range consisting of outbuildings.

From at least 1831 until at least 1838 the house and mills were in the possession of John Morrison. All had been acquired by John Gilfillan some time between the latter date and 1843, when he is recorded as having been imprisoned for "having illicit malt in his dwelling and on his mill premises". Mr. Gilfillan was the first of five generations of that family to own the house and the mill, and the first of three to operate the latter.

The 1848-52 OS map shows an arrangement similar to 1830, albeit with a new mill to the east of the range. In the 1856 valuation the whole complex is rated at £4.15s.0d, but in the print version of this valuation published in 1858 the rateable value of the ‘house and offices’ alone is stated as £3, the corn mill at £9 and the flax mill at £8, so either most (or all) these buildings were either refurbished / rebuilt in the interim, or there was a decision to raise the valuation based on the financial viability of the property. In terms of the house it is possible that it was enlarged in some form between these years, with perhaps the wall height raised slightly to provide a more spacious upper storey (or indeed an upper storey full stop), with the attached outbuildings upgraded also; however, we cannot be certain.

In 1874 the valuation for the whole complex was raised a further £3 to £15. No work appears to have been carried out to the mill at this time, so this again could represent some improvement to the dwelling or outbuildings, possibly including the addition of the shed built at a right-angle to the north end of the range (which was added some time in the later 19th century); once again, however, it is impossible to be certain of any of this.

The rateable value remained at £15 until at least the 1950s, with the sources giving no indication of any major alterations between these dates. The 1905 1:2500 scale OS map shows the range divided into four main sections, corresponding to the lower outbuilding at the north end, the core of the present dwelling house between the northern chimneystack and the carriage arch, the portion of the same height to the south of the arch, and lastly, the lower level outbuilding to the south again. A plan in the valuation notebook of 1934 adds some detail to all of this, telling us that at that date the ‘fair type house’ consisted of the aforementioned core only, with everything else classed as outbuildings; so clearly everything now part of the house from the arch downwards was incorporated after this date, with the present owner adding the sun room.

The house has remained with the descendants of John Gillfillan with the latter’s son (also John) recorded in the 1901 census as living here with his wife, Eliza, their six (mainly teenage) children and a single domestic servant, with the house itself noted as a ‘1st class’ dwelling with six rooms in use by the family. His son, the third John Gilfillan to be be associated with the site, had succeeded to the property by 1911, and he and his wife, Martha Jane, their young son and a domestic servant are recorded as the occupants in the census of that year. This John continued to work the mill into the 1960s.

References - Primary sources:
1. PRONI OS/6/5/16/1. First edition OS 1:10,560 map, Co Londonderry sheet 16 (1830).
2. PRONI VAL/1/B/521A, p.38; /521B, p.7; and /521C, p.2. First Valuation book: Tamlaght Finlagan Parish, Dromore Townland, plot 4 (1831).
3. 1835 Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland vol.25: Parishes of Co Londonderry VIII, pp 83 and 121, eds A Day & P McWilliams (Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1994).
4. Derry Journal, 31 Aug 1838, p.1.
5. Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons, 1843, vol.50. Excise Laws Offences (Ireland): Return of the number of offences against the excise laws in the years 1841, 1842 and 1843, pp 6-7 (year ending 5 July 1843).
6. PRONI OS/6/5/16/2. Second edition OS 1:10,560 map, Co Londonderry sheet 16 (1848-52).
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/24A. Second Valuation book (1856).
8. Printed valuation for the Union of Limavady (1858)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/31/24A. Valuation revision books, 1860-63, p.48 (plot 2A).
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/31/24B. Valuation revision books, 1864-82, p.51 (plot 2A).
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/31/24C. Valuation revision books, 1883-98, p.66 (plot 2A).
10. PRONI Will Calendars: 1885 (James Gilfillan) and 1915 (John 2),
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/31/24D. Valuation revision books, 1898-1915, p.76 (plot 2A).
12. 1901 Census of Ireland.
13. PRONI OS/10/5/16/3/1. First edition OS 1:2500 map, Co Londonderry sheet 16-03 (1905).
14. 1911 Census of Ireland.
15. PRONI VAL/12/B/31/24E. Valuation revision books, 1915-29, p.27 (plot 2A).
16. PRONI OS/10/5/16/3/2. Second edition OS 1:2500 map, Co Antrim sheet 16-03 (1923-24).
17. PRONI VAL/3/D/6/5/Y/3. Valuation revision notebook (1934).
18. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/6. Valuation of Rural District of Limavady, vol.2: The Highlands Electoral Division (1935).
19. PRONI VAL/3/E/5/3B. Valuation of Rural District of Limavady: The Highlands Electoral Division (1936-54).
20. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/6. Valuation of Rural District of Limavady, vol.2: The Highlands Electoral Division (1936-57)
21. PRONI OS/11/29/9/1. First edition OS IG 1:2500 map sheet 29-09 (1973).

References - Secondary sources:
1. Information from owner, October 2020.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
H+. Alterations enhancing the building
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
Z. Rarity
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest

Evaluation

The Dromore Mill House and its associated mill buildings are located approximately 5km west of the town centre of Limavady, off a laneway on the south-east side of Baranailt Road. The Mill House is situated on the northern side of the complex, on the W side of the mill pond. Pre-1830 and extended probably in the mid to later 19th century and later, the house appears to be an intact example of the type and is therefore rare in Northern Ireland, retaining its linear form and proportions and much historic fabric. An upper level sun room on the south end of the block adds to the historic character. The house has group value with the Lower Mill complex (HB02/03/034B) and the Upper complex (HB02/03/034C), with the entire site being of social and economic importance due to being owned by the same family since the 1840s.