Drummans Mill

Detached multiple-bay two-storey former corn mill, built c.1800, having water-wheel to east elevation, and built into slight incline. Pitched corrugated-iron roof with render coping and replacement rainwater goods. Rubble sandstone walls, rendered in places. Outline of pedimented porch visible to front (south) elevation, with outline of blocked square-headed door opening. Square-headed ventilation slots under roof line to front and rear elevation. Square-headed window openings with timber pivoted windows to first floor front having some red bricks to surround. Square-headed door opening to front having timber lintel and double-leaf timber battened door. Square-headed door opening to rear with timber lintel and single-leaf timber battened door. Cast-iron water-wheel having cast-iron axle and timber spokes set within wheel-pit abutting east of building. Mill race visible to north. Grinding stone from mill to grounds. Two-storey corn drying kiln, adjoining two-storey outbuilding, to south-east of mill. Pitched slate roof having red brick chimneystack. Coursed rubble stone walls with squared stone quoins and square-headed ventilation openings to front (north-west) elevation. Square-headed window opening to south-west elevation at upper level having stone lintel and timber fittings. Gauged-brick segmental-headed opening to front with squared stone surrounds. Raised platform to interior behind rubble stone wall. Remains of red brick vaulting below perforated iron drying floor, supported on lengths of railway track.

This mill building serves as a reminder of the industrial and largely self-sufficient past of this area, highlighting the importance of the food processing industries in Ireland throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Predominantly used for grinding oats, it passed out of use in the mid-twentieth century with the increased availability of oatmeal in shops. The mill wheel is retained, adding technical interest to the site which is further enhanced by the grinding stone remaining to the grounds. The mill, which was built into a slight slope for ease of loading, forms part of an associated group with the adjacent kiln building, which was used for drying grain prior to processing. Both structures are well-proportioned and use locally available materials in keeping with their rural context.