Old Mill House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A multi-bay two-storey attached basalt rubble and brick mid-nineteenth century house, built as part of a mill complex, north of Craigdarragh road west of Helens Bay. Rectangular on plan with projecting two-storey canted Regency bay to front, two-storey and single-storey return to rear; brick extension to west forming part of main block dated 1956.

Pitched natural slate roof (hipped roof to bay) with terracotta ridge tiles; clustered brick chimneystack having terracotta pots; tall brick chimneystacks to rear return. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods on overhanging eaves. Walling is basalt rubble and Flemish bonded red-brick; Regency bay to front is smooth render. Multi-paned timber frame side-hung casement windows in brick dressings, some with timber transoms and mullions; those to ground floor with segmental arch heads; those to central bay are set into simple reveals with projecting masonry sills. First floor has window heads at eaves level.

The principal elevation faces NW and is two openings wide to either side of central bay. To left of central bay are a number of brick infilled openings; to right is 1956 brick extension having two windows to ground floor, a single window to first floor, and a single opening to exposed section; to right at first floor is rendered square plaque reading “H : M G 1956”. Entrance accessed by two stone steps; door is multi-paned timber frame in brick surround.

The NE gable end has central first floor window; two ogee arch recesses to ground floor with brick infill and each containing window.

The SE elevation has two window openings to gable of return; exposed section to left with three windows to first floor; ground floor with timber door; abutted to right by garage.

The SW gable of the main block has a single opening to ground and first floor.

Setting:

Situated in a mature site with large lawned and wooded garden to front and largewalled kitchen garden (no longer in use) to west. Access from main road via lane which leads around the front of the building to the west: single-storey brick outbuildings with segmental-headed openings and timber sheeted doors line the lane to west; access to rear yard through timber gate. Bound to all sides by basalt rubble wall and mature hedgerow and trees.

Roof: Natural Slate
Walling: Basalt rubble and brick
Windows: Variety of multi-paned timber framed
RWG: Cast-iron half-round

Historical information

This house forms part of a complex that was built as a flax mill between 1834 and 1858 and was later converted for use as domestic dwellings.

The building is first shown, uncaptioned, on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858. The entry in Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) is for a ‘steward’s house, flax mill, offices and land’, part of the estate belonging to Craigdarragh House (HB23/16/017). Robert Francis Gordon, the occupier of Craigdarragh House, owns the mill complex. The property is leased from the representatives of Robert S Kennedy and valued at £75 for buildings. Dimensions are given for a house, flax mill and numerous outbuildings including a stable, cow house and two piggeries. Specifications are also given for the ‘steam flax mill’ which has a 10 horse power engine, 12 stocks and 1 set of rollers. It works for four months a year, twelve hours a day and a ‘thrashing machine’ is worked at the same time. The valuer notes that there is also an oil mill but this ‘cannot be worked with the above machinery’.

In 1863 the mill becomes the property of Lord Dufferin and Clandeboye, who had also taken over Craigdarragh House. The flax mill is noted to have ‘burned down’ by 1872 and there is a consequent reduction in the valuation to £40.

In 1882 the steward’s house was deleted from the record and the plot was redeveloped, new buildings being described as ‘in progress’. By 1883, the site was let as three separate properties valued at £45, £11 and £9. The divisions between the different houses in the group seem to have been somewhat fluid at this stage and the valuation records are not completely clear. However it appears that what is now Fairholme House and its neighbour to the south west was, at this stage, a single property valued at £45 and let to Margaret Hill. What is now Mill Cottage was a second property which was let to David Patterson by 1887 and valued at £9. The current house was valued at £11 and let to the Hartley family, Miss and then Robert M. The properties are now leased from Thomas Workman of Craigdarragh House. In 1900, Thomas Workman is listed as the occupier of all three houses and from this point it appears that the houses are let, for the most part, to relatives or associates of the Workman family.

In 1907 the valuer found that an extension had been built at the rear of the current house and this was in the nature of outbuildings which raised the value to £19.10s. The occupier was J. L. Yeames and the lessor Thomas Workman, although part of the house was occupied by a labourer rent free. A plan and dimensions are given.

James L Yeames, a marine engineer, was a nephew of W F Yeames RA (1835-1918), the artist who painted ‘And When Did You Last See Your Father?’ He had married Thomas Workman’s daughter, Jane Service Workman, in 1901 and they appear to have made this house their home. Jane Service Workman (1873-1949), was a landscape and interior painter who assisted her father in illustrating his published work on Malaysian spiders. She showed at numerous exhibitions including the Paris Salon in 1901 and the Royal Academy in 1903, but is not represented in any public collections. (Snoddy, p.726)

By 1933 the property was known as the ‘Old Mill House’, occupied by Jane Yeames and leased from Craigdarragh Estates Limited. It comprises 7 bedrooms, three receptions, a kitchen, scullery, pantry and bathroom and is free of rent, the valuer noting that it is ‘family estate’. The valuation is raised to £70 and then lowered to £64. The water is from Helen’s Bay and the house has electric light. Dimensions are given. In 1935 there was an appeal and the valuer commented, ‘Very old type semi-det residence in good position. Long rambling house, very badly planned, small rooms, low ceilings (coved 1st floor). Hardly worth two storeys. Damp. Old style fittings…Extensive well-laid out grounds. Probably too large for type of house.” The valuation was consequently lowered to £64. In 1936 and 1937 it was noted that improvements had been made, in particular to the bathroom, but no change was made to the valuation. At this time the house was in excellent repair.

In 1938, following a further appeal, the valuer notes that the house has an ‘attractive old world appearance and very fine garden at side, also large walled in garden at rear. Secluded situation off main road to Helen’s Bay’. The accommodation comprised, on the ground floor, a hall and long back corridor with flagged floors, a well-fitted bathroom, a cloak cupboard, a long dining room with bay, a large reception, library, a pantry and kitchen with a red tiled floor and ‘Aga’ cooker, and a scullery and larder.

On the first floor was a maid’s bedroom with separate staircase over the scullery and pantry, four small bedrooms, a nursery over the dining room, two large bedrooms with coved ceilings. An enclosed yard and outside WC were at the rere. There are sundry outhouses including two motor houses. The valuer comments, ‘The main staircase to 1st floor at back of house is a very poor affair and quite unsuitable for a house of this size. The house appears to have been originally part of a mill or factory building. The main disadvantages are bad plan, flagged floors to hall and corridor, poor main staircase and poor bedrooms with lavatory accommodation on ground floor. The property generally is in very fair condition of repair but there is evidence of dampness in several rooms, probably the walls are without dpcs”. The house has electric lighting and a water supply. The valuation was subsequently reduced to £60.
It appears that Jane Service Workman continued to occupy the house until her death, after an accident in 1949. (Snoddy, p.726)

References:

Primary Sources

1.PRONI OS/6/3/1/2 – Second Edition OS map 1858
2.PRONI OS/6/3/1/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1900-02
3.PRONI OS/6/3/1/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-31
4.PRONI OS/6/3/1/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1938-41
5.PRONI VAL/2/B/3/1 – Griffith’s Valuation Map (1856-64)
6.PRONI VAL/2/B/3/18B – Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
7.PRONI VAL/12/A/3/20 – Valuer’s Notebook (1907-11)
8.PRONI VAL/12/B/17/10A-G – Annual Revisions (1867-1930)
9.PRONI VAL/12/B/17/11A-C – Annual Revisions (1888-1930)
10.PRONI VAL/3/D/4/4/F/6 – Valuer’s RV Binder (1933-56)

Secondary Sources

1.Snoddy, T “Dictionary of Irish Artists, 20th Century” Dublin: Merlin Publishing, 2002

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A well-preserved multi-bay two-storey attached basalt rubble and brick mid-nineteenth century house, located north of Craigdarragh road west of Helens Bay. Situated in a mature and attractive site accessed by a private lane, the house is part of a complex of buildings on the site of an old mill. Historic research suggests that Old Mill House was originally part of the flax mill. Later additions include a central two-storey bay window and 1956 extension, both of which add to the character of the original structure (the previous owners initialling their 1956 addition). Although the interior detailing is plain, it is well-preserved and any modern finishes are sympathetic. Old Mill House is a distinctive building that forms part of an important group with the other buildings in the complex. Individually and as part of this group it contributes significantly to the historic character, industrial and architectural heritage of the surrounding area.

General comments

Previously numbered HB23/16/020, now HB23/16//018D.