2015:425 - DONAGHCLONEY, Down

Due to construction of a new water treatment works, excavations were carried out on a small building associated with the Donaghcloney linen spinning and bleaching mill IHR 02985:000:000. The area exposed was approximately 14m x 7m; the site was located between 44m and 46m OD. The River Lagan ran just to the west of the excavated area and it appears from some of the early maps and drawings that this distance may have varied considerably over time. A series of mostly brick-built walls and structures founded on a variety of layers of fill, both natural and human-derived, was uncovered. There were six drains, labelled Drains 1 to 6, five of which had probably been interconnected and served to drain a series of six tanks in the south-west corner of the building (Rooms 1 to 6).

Two groups of square paired brick plinths appeared to have once supported a wooden floor and the western building wall S18, S19, and S94/S93, had been supported by buttresses and plinths which may have once held cast iron pillars which supported the roof, S70/S71. A series of other walls and structures associated with this phase of building were illustrated on the 3rd and 4th edition OS maps.

There was also evidence for a possible earlier phase of construction, S22 and its associated features which may have been the southern foundation wall of a building illustrated on the 2nd edition OS map. The 2nd edition OS six-inch map of 1857 places the words ‘bleach mill’ to the west of the proposed site across the river. However they clearly refer to buildings on the other side of the river near the development site. These include the long narrow north-south building to the east of the proposed development site as well as other subsidiary buildings including one rectangular one which fell within the north of the proposed development site. S22 and its associated features may be the foundations of this building as it appears to predate the other structures on the site.

The 3rd edition OS six-inch map of 1902 shows that the excavated structure, though difficult to make out, does appear to be ‘dog legged’ in plan, which is consistent with what was uncovered on site, a similar building profile created by the faces of wall S19 and the western face of the tank block S93/S94 and corroborated by the layout of plinths S89 and S55. In th 4th edition OS six-inch map of 1932 The ‘dog legged’ building illustration is much clearer. Collectively the maps are indicative that the proposed area and the buildings that lay within it were related to the earlier Bleach Mill complex and not to the later Weaving Factory.

The main long narrow mill buildings surviving to the east are both in the Industrial Heritage Record and are on the Listed Building Record. The weaving factory to the south didn’t appear to intrude into the proposed area, or certainly no major part of it, and it is clear that much of this has been demolished in recent times along with the millpond.

The OS maps were not detailed enough to illuminate what the buildings uncovered during the excavation actually looked like, however two interesting illustrations did show the area of the site in question. The first from around 1908 shows our structure as a dog-legged shaped building with a Mansard variant or combination roof set behind one with what appeared to be a Belfast arched roof. The roof has what appears to be skylights, to let more light in. The gasometer is illustrated behind. The building in question, though much further back from the river than today, appears to have its river-facing wall supported by iron pillars on piers, exactly as postulated by the uncovering of pier S71, S72 and S73. Trees and bushes line the river bank with what appears to be gravel or mud shoals in front of them. A slightly later illustration dating to the 1920s also shows the building in question, though rather better, from a more westerly angle. The Belfast arched roofed building is gone, as is the gasometer however there appears to be a large yard between the building in question and the river bank, very different from the actuality of today. The yard contains what may be an oil or chemical tank as well as a series of large rectangular bales or boxes. The building has been altered, the roof is very similar though now the outer wall is illustrated as solid brickwork with a series of fifteen narrow rectangular windows. While there is a great deal of artistic licence possibly taken in the illustrations used as they were in company brochures, it does corroborate some aspects of the building though it does raise many more questions which this brief report does not attempt to answer.

It is possible that Rooms 1 to 6 were tanks used in the bleaching process, dilute chloride of lime being used, a process developed in Glasgow in the late 18th century. Chlorine was also used, as was potash and the effluent from any of these processes being voided into the River Lagan would have certainly have contributed to its reputation as one of the most polluted rivers in the 19th and 20th centuries. The exact chemicals used would require the samples from Drains 1 and 2 to be chemically analysed, which is beyond the remit of this project.