5 Dandy Row

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-storey single-bay end-of-terrace mill workers house built c.1868. Square plan with rear return. Located off Huntley Road adjacent to the junction with Lurgan Road approximately 1 ½ miles north of Banbridge.

Pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles; uPVC replacement rainwater goods; rendered chimney. Roughcast cement rendered walling; artificial stone plinth. Replacement timber top-hung casement windows. Replacement timber door; of no interest.

The principal elevation faces north and is asymmetrically arranged. The front door is located to the left with a single window to the right with single first floor window directly over.

The left gable is abutted by adjoining building (HB17/02/003I)

The rear elevation is completely abutted by a modern full width two-storey pitched roof return with matching eaves level; single first floor picture window to the gable; recessed ground floor with single picture window and rear door; single first-floor casement window to left cheek; all of no interest.

The right gable is blank.

Setting

The house forms part of a terrace that runs perpendicular to the main road. A private access runs along the front terminating at the former school building that is now derelict. Immediately to the east and south are associated historic buildings forming part of the cluster group (HB17/02/003A-J)

Roofing: Natural slate
Walling: Render
Windows: Timber
RWG: uPVC

Historical information

Valuation records date the house to c.1868. It was built as one of a terrace of five dwellings that served as worker’s housing for Milltown bleach works. The terrace was built by William and John Smyth as part of a self-contained industrial settlement first established in 1820. In common with Victorian industrialists on the Bann and elsewhere, the Smyths followed in a tradition of social paternalism, providing housing, education and other services such as a reading room, and funds for the sick, for funeral expenses and for the provision of food, fuel and clothing during inclement seasons. (www.bob-sinton.com)

The first edition OS map of 1833 shows Milltown House, a bleach mill on the Bann and extensive bleach greens surrounding the two structures. By the time of the second edition of 1860 there has been considerable development of the works and the surrounding area, including the addition of a national school and worker’s housing. However, the present terrace was not built until the late-1860s and is first shown on the third edition OS map of c.1900.

Milltown was established in 1820 when John Smyth (1798-1890), the descendant of a linen-trading family, bought a corn mill and surrounding land from the Crawford family and erected an extensive bleaching and finishing works. Beside the bleach works he built Milltown House c.1825, reputedly as a wedding present for his fiancé Anna McClelland of Belmont House and John Smyth & Co became, by 1839, the largest bleaching and finishing works on the Bann with an output of 40,000 pieces of cloth per year. Three of John and Anna Smyth’s twelve children later formed the company William Smyth & Co Ltd, a successful firm which went on to employ more than 250 people. (Rankin; Bassett’s Directory; www.bob-sinton.com) The railway line connecting Banbridge with Scarva (1859) and Lisburn (1863), provided a convenient means of transport for the company’s goods and no doubt aided the expansion of the business. In 1857 the Smyths became owners of the Bannville Beetling Mill and by this time had customers from all over the world including the USA, Italy, Russia and Germany. (www.bob-sinton.com)An iron foundry was established in 1876 for the company’s own needs as well as local light engineering work. By 1886 the bleach works and bleach greens covered an area of 220 acres. The works were water powered with steam used as an auxiliary and there were six iron water wheels. (Bassett’s Directory)

The buildings first appear in the Annual Revision fieldbook dating from 1864-1878 and are initially newly-built vacant kitchen dwellings valued at £2.10s. However, it appears that the houses were unfinished at this time and with the addition of returns they are revalued in 1868 at £4 each. In the same year, the majority of the houses are noted to be occupied and the landlord is initially John Smyth Senior, and later William Smyth & Co Ltd.

The first occupier to be noted is William Shaw (1868). Subsequent occupiers were Joseph McGuinness(1902) Thomas McGuinness (1906) Samuel Bleakley (1912) and Esther Bleakley (1917). The 1901 census lists the householder as Essy McGuinness, a widow of 55 who lives with her six children aged 14 to 25. The youngest , at 14, is working as a folder in the factory and the others are a carpenters, machinists and a general labourer, most likely all employed at the mill. By 1911 one of the daughters had married Samuel Cahoon Bleakley, a finisher in the bleach works who is listed as householder and the five room house is now providing a roof for a bewildering number of people. Essie Jane and her husband have four children, the youngest a baby and the oldest 7. Two male relatives are boarding, one a mill wright in the bleach works and the other a general labourer and another family are also staying, John Topping, a damask weaver, his wife and two small children. In the First General Revaluation of 1933/4 the houses are all listed as ‘old cottages in fair condition’ and the accommodation comprises three bedrooms, a kitchen and scullery. The rent is 2s.8d a week. A plan and dimensions are given for the house and return.

The mill produced linen until the 1940s but the company went into voluntary liquidation in 1945, having been taken over by the Irish Bleachers’ Association some years previously under their redundancy scheme. The factory buildings were eventually demolished in the 1950s. (www.bob-sinton.com)

The house continues in use as a dwelling.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/27/1 First Edition OS Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/27/2 Second Edition OS map 1860
3. PRONI OS/6/3/27/3 Third Edition OS Map (c1900)
4. PRONI OS/6/3/27/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1903-18
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/25A-D Annual Revisions (1864-1929)
6. PRONI VAL/12/F/4/2/9 Annual Revisions (1930-35)
7. PRONI VAL/3/C/4/2 First General Revaluation (1936-57)
8. PRONI VAL/3/D/4/3/L/3 First General Revaluation (1933-57)
9. Bassett’s Directory of County Down, 1886

Secondary Sources

1. Rankin, K “The Linen Houses of the Bann Valley, The story of their families” Belfast, Ulster Historical Foundation, 2007
2. www.bob-sinton.com Smyths of the Bann

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A two-storey single-bay mid-terrace mill workers house built c.1868. The building has undergone extensive alterations that have resulted in loss of the character and detailing. The primary interest of the building is its relationship with the adjacent buildings (HB17/02/003A-J) and the interest in the social and industrial development of the area. However, it is not among the best examples of the type and has been affected by the changes to the remainder of the terrace.