Corn Mill Aqueduct — Quartertown Lower

On S side of Blackwater River, c. 1.5km SW of Mallow; Manor Mill (15220) c. 500m to N. Five-storey mill (long axis N-S), with half-hipped slate roof. Wheel-pit alongside W elevation contains cast-iron axle (L c. 6m) and flaunch of water wheel; two turbines in wheel-pit recently removed for repairs. Mill retains wooden floors, and contains some late-19th-century milling machinery. Millrace taken from Clyda River c. 1.5km to S. In 1890s, Berry (1894, 24) noted that 'the ancient water-course which supplied the Manor Mill (15220)...was diverted in 1826 by Mr John Dillon Croker to supply new mills erected on the lands at Quartertown'. Tail race flows N; indicated on 1905 OS 6-inch map feeding 'Mallow Mill (Corn)' (15220) further to N. Numerous additions to mill on N side; on E side more additions terminate in 2-storey 19th-century country house, 'Quartertown Lodge'. Three substantial conjoined structures to S, laid out in Z plan, are of mid/late 19th-century appearance. Named 'Flour Mill' on 1842 OS 6-inch map. Griffith's Valuation of 1851 states that John D. Croker leased mills to Joseph McMullen; by 1853 Robert and John Webb (see 15202) had taken over and modernised mills by installing roller mills made by Messrs. E.R.F. Turner (London) (Power 1991, 5-7). In 1854 Perrotts of Cork installed 20ft high, 12ft wide iron waterwheel, new millstones and gearing. Railway siding, completed in 1864, connected mill to Great Southern and Western Railway. Mills burnt in 1864 and subsequently rebuilt, with new machinery installed by Murphy of Wexford. Subsequently woollen factory in operation within complex, but then replaced by 'Indian Meal Mill'. Saw mills added in 1878. Mills complex described c. 1895 as containing 5/6 blocks of buildings, half dozen storeys, engine house, immense storage sheds, and loft chimney (ibid.). Became part of Cork Milling Company in 1930s, but ceased to function as mill in 1957. Some buildings now used as industrial units. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009