Old Corn Mill

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Remains of former four storey windmill c.6m in diameter, now in the process of being converted to a dwelling, with flat roof at top of stump, former window openings enlarged/blocked, modern windows installed and walls (mainly) rendered. Plain timber sheeted door at ground level. Rubble remains of former lean to structure at base (which once housed an engine), whose curved wall matches curve of windmill itself. ‘Windmill’ situated off a small lane in the middle of the village of Cloghy.

Historical information

This windmill was built some time prior to 1810, possibly in the 1790s, and was an auxiliary to Cloghy water mill. The mill originally had three stones and was surrounded by grain and meal stores. During the later nineteenth century the mill’s then owner, the somewhat aptly named Mr. Miller, installed a steam engine and the mill remained in use until October 1925, when it was gutted by fire. It was bought in the 1970s and a member of the current owners family is currently attempting to convert it to living accommodation.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.616 James Williamson’s ‘Maps of the County of Down’ 1810.
2 PRONI Ordnance Survey Maps, 1st Edition, 1834, Co. Down 25.
3 Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.7: Parishes of County Down II, ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1991), p. 26
4 PRONI VAL 1B/310, Castleboy, pp.17-18.
5 PRONI Ordnance Survey Maps, 1st revision, 1860, Co. Down 25.
6 PRONI 2nd valuation, Castleboy, c.1863.

Secondary sources
1 E.R.R. Green 'The Industrial Archaeology of County Down' (HMSO Belfast, 1963), p. 56.
2 Dr. F. Duff ‘Windmills around Portaferry and District’ in 'Journal of Upper Ards Historical Society, No.1' (1977), pp. 14-15.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Ruined stump of former windmill presently undergoing conversion to living accommodation.