Mount Mills Former Corn Mill Glen Road Drummiller Newry Co.Down BT34 1QS

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Mount Mills is a former Corn Mill site (IHR 03488) located on the W side of Glen Road, approximately 3.5 miles NW of Newry, immediately north of the Newry Bypass at the Sheepbridge exit.
The mill complex consists of three surviving buildings; Building A (former corn kiln), Building B (former corn mill) and Building C (former grain store). There is also a former ‘Drover’s Cottage’ (HB16/21/098B) on the N side of the site. The complex is accessed off laneway which runs from Glen Road entrance on NE side towards SW. Mount Mill Bridge (HB16/21/007) is located to immediate E of the mill complex on Glen Road. Motte (SMR: DOW046:002) located to SW.

Former Corn Kiln (Building A):
Two-storey high, rectangular-plan, former corn kiln building constructed of stone with pitched artificial tiled roof, running NE-SW.

NW elevation
Tall random-coursed rock-faced granite walling. Door opening to extreme right side. Two steel pattress plates visible on façade. Some of façade obscured by vegetation at time of survey.

SW elevation
Gable end with two openings visible through vegetation – a door opening on ground floor at approximate centre with redbrick jambs, and a window opening at attic level with remnants of a metal window frame. Large quoin stones to each corner. Gable wall falls towards SE towards river.

SE elevation
Seen from S side of river – openings to left side and approximate centre. Vegetation obscuring remainder of elevation. Not accessible at ground level.

NE elevation
Partially visible from laneway - gable end obscured by vegetation at time of survey.

Former Corn Mill (Building B):
Large stone building running NE-SW with Southern section (1) re-roofed with corrugated metal sheeting and northern section (2) now derelict and roofless. 20th Century cement-rendered and concrete block farm structures attached to NW side. Building drops down hill towards river on SE side. The former corn mill is aligned with a former mill race (now filled in) that was diverted from the Newry River.

NW elevation
Not seen at time of survey, obscured by attached farm structures.

SW elevation
Gable elevation much obscured by vegetation at time of survey. Stonework visible at ground floor level with door opening located to right side with brick voussoirs.

SE elevation
Left section is rubblestone walling brought to courses, façade much obscured by vegetation at time of survey.
Right section is largely derelict with large trees and vegetation growing through what is now a large opening. Remnants of stonework remain.
Former water wheel not extant.

Former grain store (Building C):
Three-storey former grain store facing SE towards river, built into bank to rear.
Random coursed rock-faced granite walling with red brick dressings. Pitched natural slate roof.

SE elevation
Asymmetrical façade with door opening on ground floor located off-centre towards left side. Single window opening to each side with red brick surrounds. First and Second floor levels have same window openings aligned vertically with those on ground floor level. No windows extant. Some granite cills remain.

SW elevation
Built into bank towards rear, appears to be a blind façade, largely obscured by vegetation.

NW elevation
Not seen at time of survey.

NE elevation
Three storey blind façade built into bank to rear. Raised redbrick verge.

Setting:
Former Corn Mill site located on the W side of Glen Road, approximately 3.5 miles NW of Newry, immediately north of the Newry Bypass at the Sheepbridge exit.
Three surviving buildings; Building A (former corn kiln), Building B (former corn mill) and Building C (former grain store). There is also a former ‘Drover’s Cottage’ (HB16/21/098B) on the N side of the site.
The complex is accessed off laneway which runs from Glen Road entrance on NE side towards SW. Motte (SMR: DOW046:002) located to SW. Mount Mill Bridge (HB16/21/007) is located to immediate E of the mill complex on Glen Road. The complex is surrounded by open countryside to all sides.

Materials:
Walls: random-coursed rock-faced granite walling
Roof: natural slate & artificial slate
Windows: none
Rainwater goods: none

Historical information

Mount Mill most likely dates from c1800 and was a significant processor and exporter of oatmeal and flour in the 19th century, run by two generations of a Preston grain milling dynasty, who despite many setbacks and some family disputes, carried on a successful business at the mills for at least 50 years. Mount Mill is located within the townland of Drummiller, to the East of a scheduled motte (DOW046:002). However, there is no known connection between the motte and mill, and the townland name, Drummiller, is thought to be an anglicisation of Droim Iolair or ‘ridge of the eagle’.

The earliest record of Mount Mill is on an estate map of local landlord, Arthur Innes’, holdings in the Manor of Glen, dating to 1805. The map shows Mount Mill, (three structures are shown, but the map may not be an accurate depiction), the river (captioned ‘Blackwater River’) and the local road network, including the site for a bridge that was yet to be constructed (later known as Mount Mill bridge). The mill is recorded as part of the lands of ‘Captain Innes’ but no tenant is listed at this time. The fact that a bridge carrying the adjacent road to Newry has yet to be built, suggests that the mill may have been constructed shortly prior to 1805.

Mount Mill today consists of three surviving buildings. Buildings A (former corn kiln) and B (former corn mill) appear to predate the first edition of 1834 while building C (former grain store) is first shown on the second edition of 1859 and was therefore constructed between 1834 and 1859. However, buildings on the site were burned down on several occasions (1834, 1837, 1840 and 1853) and subsequently rebuilt. It is therefore unclear the extent to which any original fabric remained after each fire. Combined with this, the fact that the first edition OS map is prone to inaccuracies at the scale of individual buildings, means that dating of the buildings can only be tentative.

Mount Mill is shown on the first edition OS map of 1834 captioned ‘Mill’. Buildings A and B appear to be shown, building B being aligned with the bank of a mill race that has been diverted from the Newry River.

In 1829, Mount Mill was available for letting and appeared in a newspaper advertisement. The mill had ‘command of Water sufficient to drive the most powerful machinery’ and consisted at that time of a corn mill and kiln and a scutch mill (no further trace of the scutch mill appears in primary records). The mill was the property of the local landlord, Mr Innes, and enquiries were directed to Innes’ agent Richard Waring. A few years later, in 1834 the mill was said to be less than two years old, but as the site certainly predates 1829, this may refer to the rebuilding/refitting of building B.

By 1834 the proprietor of the mill was William Walmsley of Preston in Lancashire, one of a number of English grain merchants who came to Newry from Preston for the purposes of trade. Other families involved were the Luptons and Cardwells, the Luptons having a business in Bridge Street and a flour mill in Dominic Street. Mount Mill was said to give ‘employment to a number of persons and a ready and advantageous market’ to local farmers. By this time the mill was exclusively devoted to the processing of grain (Newry Telegraph, 23 December 1834).

Fires at the mill on two occasions caused Walmsley considerable financial loss in the 1830s. The mill was ‘totally destroyed by fire’ in December 1834, which led to the roof caving in and the destruction of the machinery together with 1500 sacks of oatmeal which had been ready for shipment – fire damaged oatmeal, wheat flour and bran were later sold at William Walmsley’s store at Merchant’s Quay, Newry (Newry Examiner 31st December 1834).

The mill was swiftly repaired and the Mount Mill Stores at Merchant’s Quay advertised oatmeal, flour, ‘mill dust’ and meal seeds for sale in 1836 as well as Wigan Coal, which likely provided a means of filling ships with a saleable commodity on their return journey from England. A further destructive fire affected the mill in December 1837. The insurance companies’ fire engine in Newry was sent to the scene but the roof had already fallen in and the fire had reached the doors and windows of the kiln, which is described as being 12 feet from the mill. The mill was destroyed but the fire engine was directed towards the kiln and managed to save it. On this occasion nearly £4000 worth of machinery, meal and flour was destroyed, and was only partially covered by insurance. Walmsley subsequently advertised for sale, 120 tons of fire damaged oatmeal (Newry Telegraph, 12th December 1837; 21st December 1837).

The Townland Valuation of 1838 identifies William Walmsley as the resident proprietor of the mills, his dwelling house lying to the NE of the mill complex (a house is still present on the site but appears to be a rebuild/remodel). At this time the mill site consisted of two buildings: a corn mill measuring 69x46x28 feet and a corn kiln and store measuring 43.6x26x28 feet. These dimensions correspond with buildings A (kiln) and B (mill) as shown on the first edition OS map of 1834. The mill is said to have 6 pairs of stones, a good supply of water power and a good situation, and the entire holding, including the dwelling house, was valued at £46.9s. The quality mark indicates that both the buildings were slated and were not in disrepair, despite the recent fire, suggesting that rebuilding had already taken place or that valuation of the buildings took place before the fire.

William Walmsley died at his residence at Mount Mills in July 1838, leaving a young son who was not of an age to take over the business. The Townland Valuation records Seth Walmsley (who appears to have been William’s brother, but was not resident in Ireland) as taking over the mill after William’s death. Walmsley’s death appears to have stimulated a power struggle and in August 1838 another Prestonian, William Cook, a nephew of Seth Walmsley, arrived in Newry to manage the mill and farm on his uncle’s behalf. Cook was concerned with the securing of the mill, rebuilding work, collection of debts owed to Walmsley and providing evidence for the insurance company in connection with the recent fire. Cook left a diary covering the years 1838 to 1841 which gives considerable detail of events relating to the mill in these years and more generally of the life and times of early Victorian Newry (the diary was serialised in a local newspaper in the 1950s but does not appear to have been deposited in public records) (Frontier Sentinel).

Immediately following Walmsley’s death the mill was taken possession of by force, it appears by the family of the widow. The five millwrights were idle for 2½ days until the mill was retaken by Joseph Lupton, (a colleague, perhaps a relative of Cook’s from another Preston grain dealing family), who was forced to break one of the windows to gain access.

Walmsley’s widow died in early September at the young age of 25, her sudden death giving rise to rumours about poisoning and necessitating a coroner’s inquest, at which a verdict was returned that the widow had died ‘by the visitation of God’. Work stopped at the mill until after the funeral. Cook took possession of the dwelling house at Mount Mill as soon as the widow’s body left the house, clearly expecting a confrontation, as he armed himself with a brace of loaded pistols.

In the following days Cook measured the carpenters work, the walls (making deductions for the old walls left standing) and the brick work at the Mill to provide evidence for the Insurance company. Cook also assessed the damage to the kiln, which appears to have been mainly to the windows, giving an estimate of 10s per window. Cook was required to draw a plan of the mill stone and elevations of the buildings for the inspection of the Insurance company, so that they could be ‘satisfied as to the construction of the mill, the contents on the several floors before another policy will be given for insuring in future’. The mill was subsequently insured for £700 with ‘Sun’ and £850 with ‘Atlas’ insurance companies, covering the machinery, millstones and water wheels as well as the walls, roofing and flooring.

Building work was also supervised by Cook at this time which appears to have involved the rebuilding of building B after the fire. Cook describes measuring and purchasing walling stone at 1s.1d a perch and ‘building walls for sleepers and fitting up the metal posts for the support of beams’. Cook was at Mount Mill on the night of 6th January 1839, the night of the ‘big wind’ and states that the mill, kiln and house had ‘suffered in the roofs’. In February 1839, Cook, together with the landlord’s agent Richard Waring, the architect Thomas Duff and Joseph Lupton inspected the newly erected mill for the satisfaction of the Court of Chancery on behalf of Master Innes, the landlord, who was a minor at the time. The sum of £900, part of the insurance payment, which had been held back by Waring was then to be released. It is unclear whether Duff had been the designer of the mill building or was merely providing advice. Duff is mainly known as the architect of churches, court houses and market houses in the Newry and Armagh areas.

The widow’s family then took a case in the Chancery Court on behalf of Walmsley’s infant son, accusing Seth Walmsley of conspiring to deprive the infant of his ‘rights’. Cook attempted to negotiate with the widow’s family including suggesting that he and George Cardwell (of another Preston grain family) should become the child’s guardians, but these overtures were rejected. The mill was idle in 1838, presumably as a consequence of the fire, and bad weather in the Autumn of 1839 meant that much of the crop of wheat and oats locally was destroyed. Cook commented that the mill was likely to be idle again ‘this next season in consequence of the unsettled state of things’. Seth Walmsley subsequently offered the mill for rent to brothers Joseph and Will Lupton for £150 ‘or less, if too much’, and this offer was accepted.

At the end of October 1840, the mill was again burned in a fire, Cook stating that the mill was ‘totally consumed, and everything it contains’ including nearly 300 lbs of meal, £10-12 in notes and silver, Will Lupton’s gun, the books and the milling machinery such as flour cylinders and a grindstone. No fire engine was sent out by the insurance company and one of the policies had only arrived the morning of the fire. Cook feared that there would be ‘rigid scrutiny as to the origin of the fire’, but he left Mount Mill in January 1841, before the matter of insurance had been settled.

The mill was the subject of dispute between Seth Walmsley and his brother’s widow’s family for several years following these events, and although Joseph Lupton remained in control of the mill until 1845, by the end of 1846, following newspaper advertisements for a tenant, a new tenant had taken over, William Sinclair. A term of the lease was that the tenant was not permitted to grind seeds, ‘the same being expressly forbidden in the policy of Insurance effected on said Mills and Premises’, presumably because of the danger of generating sparks.

Mr Sinclair was soon affected in December 1846 by a rumour that his oatmeal and Indian meal were adulterated with ‘whiting and bone-dust’ and was moved to offer a £50 reward for the name of the person spreading the slander. During the Famine of 1845-52 the mill frequently advertised Indian corn (maize) meal for sale, maize being a food that had been habitually imported to Ireland during periods of food shortage in the first half of the 19th century but was imported in far greater quantities during the Famine.
Despite the precautions that had been taken by Insurers and proprietor, fire again broke out in the drying kiln in October 1853, totally destroying the kiln together with about 20 tons of oats. The fire was judged to be accidental, but the kiln was not insured as it had been seldom in use.

By November 1856, Sinclair had gone into partnership with a Mr Walker, and Messrs Sinclair & Walker remained the proprietors of the Mill until the young William Walmsley came of age in 1859. Sinclair & Walker added a new kiln to the site (perhaps a rebuild of the kiln that had previously been burned) c1859.

William Walmsley got married, immediately upon coming of age, to Rachel Ann Savage of the Glen, Lurganare and advertised Mount Mills to let, stating that ‘the capacity of the Mount Mills for grinding are well known’. The next tenant from c1860 was Thomas Cardwell (of another Preston grain milling family, possibly also related to the Walmsleys). Cardwell had been born in Preston and was a partner in the grain merchant firm Cardwell & Holden, which had premises in Edward Street, Newry. The mill was said to be ‘but casually used’ before Cardwell took over, and he had been able to increase demand so that the work was constant. The mill was described as a ‘neat structure, on which Mr Cardwell has laid out a considerable sum’.

The second OS map edition of 1859 shows three buildings on the site, captioned ‘Mount Corn Mill’, building C being newly depicted to the NE of building B. In 1861 the corn mill and kiln were assessed by Griffith’s Valuation. Thomas Cardwell leased the mill from William Walmsley and it was valued at £70. Dimensions are given for the buildings, which consisted of three, three-storey structures together with two single-storey structures or lean-tos. The dimensions of the two larger structures correlate approximately with the dimensions given in the Townland Valuation, suggesting that although these buildings were repeatedly burned down and rebuilt, they were rebuilt to the same dimensions as previously. An additional building has been added with the dimensions 36x30x22, which corresponds approximately to building C and was used for the storage of grain and/or meal. The separate building was possibly constructed in an effort to protect the mill produce from fire damage, should the mill burn down again.

The corn mill machinery was classified by Griffith’s as B– :it comprised one pair of Irish shelling stones, four pairs of grinding stones (of which 2 pairs were French burr (imported stone built up of shaped blocks of freshwater quartz quarried in the Paris basin and valued for producing white flour from wheat)), two sets of fans and sifters and four sets of elevators, all of which worked at the same time, for eight months annually, night and day. A further two sets of stones (French burr) and two sets of elevators worked together grinding Indian corn or maize for four months annually, night and day.

In 1877 Thomas Cardwell died and although attempts were made to relet the mill, describing it as ‘capable of doing a large trade’ and having a good supply of water and ample storage’ with machinery ‘in good working order, with an excellent kiln attached’, no suitable tenant came forward. In 1879 valuation books record the mill as ‘at rest’ and the valuation was reduced to £47, the value of the water power having been deducted. The mill valuation was further reduced to £20 in 1886, as the vacancy of the mill became well established.

William Walmsley died in 1894 and his wife Rachel in 1901. Mount Mill house and the mill site were subsequently taken over by Patrick Rooney, Rooney carrying out improvements to the dwelling house in 1903. In 1908 the mill buildings were revalued as farm outbuildings at a valuation of £8.10s, the valuer commenting that the lower stories were ‘of no utility’ and so not included in the valuation. Dimensions are given in a valuation fieldbook which correlate approximately with those given in Griffith’s Valuation and the Townland Valuation, indicating that the buildings on site, despite misadventures, have retained the same dimensions since they were first built. James and Patrick Rooney, cattle exporters, are recorded as resident at Mount Mills in the 1911 census, together with Patrick’s wife and young son and three domestic servants, one of whom had been born in America. Rooney and his brother James are identified by ‘Frontierman’ as among the largest cattle exporters in Ireland in the early 20th century. The Rooney brothers are related to the Pittsburgh Rooney family, several members of which have been prominent in sport, the arts and politics. James and Mary Rooney (their relationship to the brothers is unclear) emigrated from Newry to the US in the 1840s during the Famine, and their great-grandson Art Rooney became the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers American football franchise, while his son, Dan Rooney, became a US Ambassador to Ireland (Owner Information).

The farm and former mills were let out several times in the 1940s and 50s, but the Rooney family appeared to have retained an interest until at least the mid-20th century. Unfortunately, valuer’s notebooks for this period have not survived but the mill does not appear to have operated as a mill after 1880. Green’s Industrial Archaeology of County Down records that the mill floors were once supported by cast-iron columns (fitted or refitted in the 1830s – see above), but the former mill (building B) had ‘recently collapsed’ at the time of publication in 1963. Green identifies the building stone as mixed Silurian and granite with ‘roughly dressed granite quoins’.

Today the farm and mill buildings are in the ownership of Jim Magill who runs a seed processing business (Mount Mills cold pressed flax oil) in modern buildings on the site, using flax grown on his farm.

References:
Primary Sources:

1. PRONI T1516/1 Map survey of Manor of Glen, Co Down, estate of Arthur Innes (1805)
2. Newry Telegraph, 6th January 1829, 23rd December 1834, 24th December 1836, 12th and 21st December 1837, 10th July, 6th September 1838, 15th February, 3rd November 1840, 5th August 1845, 3rd December 1846, 27th September 1855, 1st November 1856, 14th November 1865
3. Newry Examiner, 31st December 1834,14th December 1836, 21st February 11th July 1838, 15th October 1853
4. Newry Herald, 21st September 1858, 29th January, 26th February, 3rd September 1859
5. PRONI OS/6/3/46/1 First edition Six Inch OS map (1834)
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/355 Townland Valuation, Parish of Donaghmore (1838)
7. PRONI OS/6/3/46/2 Second edition Six Inch OS map (1859)
8. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/58A Griffith’s Valuation, Barony of Orior Upper (1861)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/15/22A-F Annual Revisions Electoral Division of Mullaghglass (1864-1929)
10. PRONI Wills Calendars – Thomas Cardwell, died 2nd April 1877
11. Northern Whig, 4th April 1877
12. PRONI Wills Calendars – William Walmsley, died 30th May 1894
13. PRONI Wills Calendars – Rachel Walmsley, died 8th February 1901
14. PRONI OS/6/3/46/3 Third edition Six Inch OS map (1903)
15. PRONI VAL/12/A/3/78 Valuer’s notebooks, RD Newry No 1 (1903)
16. PRONI VAL/12/A/3/79 Valuer’s notebooks, RD Newry No 1 (1908)
17. PRONI OS/6/3/46/4 Fourth edition Six Inch OS map (1919)
18. Census of Ireland 1911 online
19. PRONI VAL/3/C/4/29 First General Revaluation ED Glen(1936-1957)
20. Large scale OS maps 1906, 1955, 1975 (https://shop.centremapslive.co.uk/)

Secondary Sources:

21. ‘Frontierman’ ‘Newry and District 120 years ago: An Englishman’s Diary’ Frontier Sentinel (published in eight parts, 20th 27th September, 4th 11th 18th 25th October, 1st 8th November 1958)
22. Green, E.R.R. (1963) The Industrial Archaeology of County Down, Belfast: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office
23. Mount Mills flax oil (About | Mount Mills Flax Oil)
24. Mills Archive (https://new.millsarchive.org/)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Mount Mills is a former Corn Mill site (IHR 03488) located on the W side of Glen Road, approximately 3.5 miles NW of Newry, Co Down. It most likely dates from c1800 and was a significant processor and exporter of oatmeal and flour in the 19th century, run by two generations of a Preston grain milling dynasty, who despite many setbacks and some family disputes, carried on a successful business at the mills for at least 50 years. The complex consists of three surviving buildings; a former corn kiln, corn mill and grain store. There is also a former ‘Drover’s Cottage’ (HB16/21/098B) on the N side of the site.
Despite the good setting, interesting history and the retention of some elements of interest such as the barrel-vaulted brick ceiling to the former mill building and the remnants of some machinery, the complex’s ability to portray its significance is diminished due to the loss of original historic fabric, in particular the waterwheel and millrace, the loss of the original roof to both the kiln and mill buildings and windows and internal floors, rendering it below the legislative level for listing. It is however a good example of a historic building of local interest.