2 John Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A working provender (animal feed) mill on the east side of lane leading to graveyard off John St.

The mill is three storeys high and has a two-storey corrugated metal structure abutting to rear.

The main building has a pitched natural slate roof; two gablets project from the front pitch. Half-round gutters (cement-fibre and metal). Walls of random rubble construction brought to courses and with advanced brick eaves; all heavily pointed with cement.

The front elevation faces W to the lane. It is seven openings wide to the upper floors and five to the ground floor. Most of the openings have brick dressings. That at G/F left is a wide doorway now partly infilled with bricks and concrete blocks and with a t+g sheeted painted door; steel beam head and segmental headed brick relieving arch over. Sacks of meal are also discharged through this door via a chute from the floor above. Above it are two windows to each upper floor, all 1/2 fixed pane in various states of repair. Right of this G/F door is a smaller pedestrian door. Above and left of it is a loading door to each floor. There is a cantilevered pulley wheel over the head of the upper door, which is partly set in the gablet.

The third opening from left on G/F is a sliding door (with metal head). Above it are loading doors – (one double leaf door) to each floor, (top one in gable) and each also with a 1/2 casement to its left. There is no pulley over the upper door. The G/F opening is a t+g sheeted pedestrian door. Fifth opening (at right) is a sheet metal door with metal beam over. Above each door is a 1/2 window to each upper floor.

The left gable is cut into the bank and only exposed from the first floor upwards (blank). Two circular metal silos abut.

The rear elevation is entirely abutted by more modern structure. There is an assortment of original and more recent openings in this wall to connect with the later annex which has concrete blockwork to the lower section of its walls and corrugated metal above. The monopitched roof is also of corrugated metal and rises to enclose the elevators. There are no openings except for large double-leaf door on the end (S) gable. Large metal silos about to the rear.

The right gable of the main block is blank except for two grain intake pipes which hang from the apex.

Historical information

Valuation revision book notes replacement of several houses on this plot by the present building in 1920. Erected as a store; only in the recent past has it been converted to use as a provender mill.

Primary sources:

1. PRONI Valuation revision book, VAL 12B/22/22A, p.46.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Of interest insofar that it is an increasingly rare demonstration of small-scale provender milling for the local farming community.