Survey Data
Reg No
15317051
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural
Original Use
Mill (water)
Historical Use
Shop/retail outlet
Date
1760 - 1800
Coordinates
218860, 238318
Date Recorded
08/09/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Terraced nine-bay three-storey commercial building/mill built c.1780, having a multi-bay three-storey return to the rear (south). Later shopfronts to the west end and towards the east end of the main façade (north). Currently out of use. Pitched natural slate roof with three chimneystacks, two smooth rendered and one of cut stone to the west end having two square pots bridged by capping stone. Smooth rendered finish to the ground floor with roughcast rendered finish to the upper floors. Square-headed window openings, diminishing in size to the eaves, having cut stone sills and timber sliding sash windows (two-over-two pane to the first floor and early three-over-three pane to the second floor). Square-headed doorcases with timber doors and segmental-headed carriage arches with corrugated sheeting to the ground floor. Road-fronted to the east end of Moate.
Appraisal
An unusually large commercial premises, of late eighteenth-century appearance, which retains much of its early form and character despite being out of use. The survival of early three-over-three pane timber sliding sash windows to the top floor is a noteworthy feature and a rare survival. The large return to the rear is an interesting feature that suggests that this was originally a large-scale industrial structure or a mill, a suggestion supported by the small stream which runs past the east elevation of this building and may have been used as a mill race. The proximity of this building to Moate View (15317053), a house built by James Clibborn in 1762, suggests that this commercial operation may have been in the ownership of the Clibborn family. The Clibborn Family were an actively involved in the local flax industry in the late eighteenth-century and it is quite possible that this building was in the manufacturing of linen and frieze. This building is a rare survival of its type and date in Irish towns and adds historic interest to the east end of Main Street, Moate. Although this building is now unused it survives in good condition and is a worthy addition to the built heritage of Moate. It makes a valuable and impressive contribution to the streetscape.