Historic Buildings Record · Northern Ireland
Bridge at Ballyknockan Mill,
Tullygarvan/ Ballyknockan, Lisburn and Castlereagh, Northern Ireland
The record
- Designation
- Record only (not listed)
- Grade
- Record Only
- Type
- Bridge
- Date of construction
- 1800 - 1819
- Address
- Bridge at Ballyknockan Mill,, Tullygarvan Road,, Tullygarvan & Ballyknockan,, Ballygowan,, Co. Down, BT23 6[?NB]
- Townland
- Tullygarvan/ Ballyknockan
- Council
- Lisburn and Castlereagh
- Country
- Northern Ireland
- Coordinates
- 54.50822, -5.82958
- Date of survey
- 19 January 1999
- HB reference
- HB24/16/015
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 5 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1794 "Sheet 55. (Cary's England, Wales, and Scotland)." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
The Department's description
Exterior description and setting
Road bridge, carrying the Ballyknockan Road over the Ballygowan River and a (now defunct) mill race, c.2 miles W of Ballygowan.
The bridge is set at a low level and constructed from random whinstone rubble. To the S side are two low semicircular arches separated by a cutwater. The S side of the bridge is largely covered in greenery.
The cutwater splits the river in two form a mill race (which flows to the W), the rest of the water (to the E). Thus, on the N side of the road, the arches are more widely spaced.
To the N side is a low parapet constructed roughly in rubble. The parapet to the S appears to have been rebuilt recently and is slightly taller, but with the same general rough appearance that to the N.
The road is covered in tarmac.
Disused rubble-built mill buildings to the W, with not insubstantial remains of water wheel. For fuller report on mill buildings see HB25/02/015 & /016.
Historical information
A bridge is shown on this site on the OS maps of 1834 and 1858, with the mill to the immediate west side. The (corn) mill itself was built in 1810 by one David Orr and possessed a ‘metal’ breast wheel of 13ft. diameter and 4ft. 1in. in breadth. Orr also built a flax mill beside the same with a larger wheel. It is probable therefore that this bridge was built/rebuilt in 1810 also.
The parapet to the south side has been rebuilt fairly recently and some of the old flax mill buildings have been converted to a dwelling.
References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS map 1st ed. 1834, Down 16.
2 PRONI VAL1B/334 1st valuation Saintfield parish 1834.
3 ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.7: Parishes of County Down II’, ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1991), p.114.
4 PRONI OS map 1st rev. 1858-60, Down 16.
5 PRONI 2nd valuation Saintfield parish c.1863.
6 EHS HB24/16/15 1st survey notes and slide (see also HB25/02/015 & 16).
7 EHS OS map 166-8 (1:2500) 1973.
Criteria for listing: architectural interest
Not listed
Criteria for listing: historic interest
Not listed
Evaluation
Low level rubble constructed road bridge, possibly built c.1810, over the Ballygowan river and a mill race formerly serving Ballyknockan corn mill. The parapet to the south side has been rebuilt recently. The corn mill itself is still standing but is derelict (see HB25/02/015 & /016).
Nearby in the register
- MillNo type recordedunder 1 mi
- Vernacular OutbuildingOutbuildingsunder 1 mi
- House atHouseunder 1 mi
- Former Mill BuildingHouseunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.