SION MILLS BUILDINGS PRESERVATION TRUST

 HERITAGE-LED ECONOMIC REGENERATION

  “Making our past our future”  

FUTURE REGENERATION (Phase 1)

Workspace Units Project and

Restoration of Mill Chimney

(Phase One of Herdmans Mill Regeneration) 

Nothing could happen on site until the listed (and "listing") Mill Chimney was restored.  It towered dangerously 152 ft above the Mill, 2 ft out of true at the top and with huge cracks one third of the way up.  So its restoration (funded by the Manifold Trust and the Environment & Heritage Service NI) was the beginning of Phase One.

Funding for the Workspace Units was first allocated in 2001 and since then £673,600 has been on hold for the Trust from the Dept for Social Development and the International Fund for Ireland, along with a further £125,000 for Environmental Improvements and Spruce-up.  These Units will be sited in the old Maintenance Block of the Mill, immediately beneath the chimney and at the north end of the site.

The commencement of this project was held up for years by the Heritage Lottery Fund who would not allow this phase to start without plans for the whole project being in place. The Conservation Plan for the Mill and the village was completed by the Trust in 2003 to the satisfaction of the Heritage Lottery Fund, and adopted by the Planning Authorities. The HLF then unexpectedly turned down the application by the Trust for £10m for the overall Mill Regeneration project in January 2005, but subsequently said, in May 2005, that we could go ahead with the Workspace Units in view of the Conservation Plan having been completed.

Because of the deterioration of the buildings in the intervening years, a new survey had to be undertaken and costings done, resulting in the need for further funding of £350,000. The Clothworkers Foundation agreed we could keep their generous grant of £50,000 for this purpose and we succeeded in getting further grants of £48,000 from the local council and £234,000 from the Dept of Enterprise Trade & Investment (PEACE II funding). 

We repaired the chimney first as it was too dangerous to allow any other work to proceed, and then it took a further 2 years negotiations to satisfy the owners and the government depts re the lease and updated business plan.  This resulted in the tenders coming in hugely over budget, as feared, but with willingness on all sides that the project should proceed, more funding was found, and the project is due to start in mid-May 08.

 The full funding package for the Workspace Units is as follows:

                                                            £
Dept for Social Development &                

International Fund for Ireland                 787,460

Dept of Enterprise,Trade and Investment 

(Peace II funding)                                  234,000

Environment & Heritage Service NI          153,000

The Manifold Trust (Chimney)                 100,000

The Clothworkers Foundation                   50,000                                                      

Strabane District Council                         

(including Peace II funding)                      68,000

Bank Loan                                              28,400

Total funding and cost of Project         1,420,860 

Chimney restoration (2005-06); detailed plans for Workspace Units (2007-08)

The restoration of the Mill chimney (known as ‘the Lum’) began in October 2005. This towers over the buildings being converted to Workspace and is an integral part of the Project. It was in a very dangerous state and took a year to complete, with the ‘topping-out’ ceremony on 3 Nov 2006 (see NEWS & EVENTS). The total cost of restoration was £163,000 and was made possible by the late Sir John Smith CH CBE of the Manifold Trust, who supported the Trust from its inception and very sadly died on 28th January 2007.  The chimney stands proud as a constant reminder of his generosity and encouragement.

While this work was going on, the Trust was not standing idly by.  There was a lot of work to be done to get the Workspace Units project (underneath the restored chimney) ready to start, including updating the original Business Plan and having a new Economic Appraisal written.  Plans had to be drawn up and submitted for approval by the Planning Authorities in January 07. 

Future Regeneration of Herdmans Mill and surrounds  

The future of the Herdmans Mill site is assured, in that all interested parties want its restoration and regeneration to happen, but that goal is not yet secured. It is listed B+ and probably has the best known industrial heritage buildings in N Ireland – thanks to the BBC2 Restoration series and ongoing publicity - and is worthy of being chosen by Government as a "strategic project" on its own merit and is in the right place to fulfil that role.

  In the meantime, the Trust will be helping by getting Phase 1 underway – the Workspace Units.  This will eventually provide the  Trust with an income which will enable it to be more self-sufficient and concentrate on working on other projects within the Conservation Area.

The Irish Linen Industry

No single influence has done more to shape the province of Ulster than the Irish Linen Industry.  Spanning four centuries, the linen industry has been of such fundamental importance in the industrial and social history of Ireland, especially in the north, that there is scarcely a family in Ulster that has not been connected with the production of linen in some way.  In recognition of this, the new Northern Ireland Assembly has adopted the flax flower as its emblem, with six flax flowers representing the six counties.

 
It is hoped that the NI Tourist Board will recognise the significance of the fact that Irish Linen is synonomous with Northern Ireland worldwide.  Five signature categorioes for tourism have recently been identified, these being Causeway, Titanic, St Patrick, Mournes and the Walled City;  no mention of Irish Linen which is very disappointing as it did more than all of these put together (with the exception of St Patrick) to shape the Ulster we have today.   It is worth remembering that New Lanark in Scotland, Saltaire in Yorkshire and the Derwent Valley Mills are now all World Heritage Sites.  Sion Mills is so similar that, as an icon of the Irish Linen industry, it could be in the same category with a lot of work and commitment.  There is nowhere better placed to tell the story of the linen industry in its proper context.  The proposed new dual carriageway from Ballygawley to Derry, bypassing the village, will be an added incentive to develop the tourism potential, and the nearby popular Ulster American Folk Park and Sion Mills will both benefit from having two major tourist attractions in the same vicinity.

Sion House Stables

A Compulsory Purchase Order, the first ever issued in Northern Ireland, has been served on the owner of Sion House stables after years of neglect.  Its implementation is taking a long time though and the deterioration of this building is very worrying.  Hopefully it will not take much longer and then it will be restored.

The Sion Mills Conservation Plan

A Conservation Plan for the Mill and the Sion Mills Conservation Area was completed by the Trust in 2003 – funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Architectural Heritage Fund and compiled by Donald Insall Associate Architects of Chester – and has been agreed to by the local Council, the Planning Authorities and the Environment & Heritage Service NI, who were all involved with its inception.  The Conservation Plan charts the origins, history and development of Sion Mills and lays down conservation guidelines to be followed when any future development is being considered.