Survey Data
Reg No
15403614
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social, Technical
Original Use
Mill (water)
Date
1790 - 1910
Coordinates
213516, 237817
Date Recorded
04/11/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached multi-bay single-storey former corn mill complex, built c.1800 and extended c.1900 with the addition of a multi-bay two-storey extension and three-storey drying tower to the west. Detached single-storey outbuilding with attic level and having a barrel-vaulted corrugated-iron roof (with roof vent) to the west. Now out of use and derelict. Random rubble stone construction to original mill building, having square-headed openings with fittings and roof now gone. Pitched corrugated metal roof to later mill building with hipped/pyramidal-shaped roof over drying tower with iron air vent to apex. Smooth cement rendered walls to later buildings having square-headed window and door openings with remains of timber sheeted doors/loading bays and one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows. C.1900 mill building and drying tower retains the remains of early iron machinery, timber fittings and millstones. Silted former mill pond and former head race to the north with former tailrace to the south. Detached four-bay two-storey former miller’s house to the west having a hipped natural slate roof and square-headed window and door openings with replacement fittings. Set back from road to the west of Moate.
Appraisal
An interesting and substantial former corn mill complex with ancillary structures/elements, representing an integral component of the industrial heritage of Westmeath. This complex was in active use for a considerable period of time, before finally ceasing operation in the 1940s, and represents an interesting historical insight into changing industrial processes and building methods through time. The original mill building probably dates to the late eighteenth/early nineteenth-century, which was a boom period for the Irish corn milling industry, but this earliest building appears to have become redundant long before milling ceased on the site as a whole. The retention of some of the early machinery and millstones to the interior is of technical and engineering merit. Unfortunately, this complex is now approaching a ruinous condition and the internal fittings and machinery are now in a poor condition. Nevertheless, complete with millrace, mill pond and miller's house this complex forms an important part of industrial heritage of Westmeath and adds historic incident to the rural landscape to the west of Moate, while the drying tower adds interest to the skyline and is a landmark feature in the locality.