Discovery made at Bessbrook Mill

FOLLOWING his documentation of the light anomaly that has been appearing at the Bessbrook Mill for the past ten years, as well as his vocalisation of both his own and the wider communities concerns regarding the proposed redevelopment of the complex, John Davis has brought yet another element of the iconic linen mill at the centre of Bessbrook's history to light.

This is in the form of a discovery of a number of historical artefacts that were made within the mill a number of years ago. As John explains:

“These cards were found a number of years ago within the weavers shed of the Bessbrook Mill before the Mill was bought over last year by its new owners Farlstone construction. They were found on one of the beams in the weavers shed. Whilst I am not sure as regards the exact historical time period that these cards date back too, I believe that they may date as far back as the mid 19th century, or even before then.

“I believe that these cards would have been used in some way with the weaving machines and that they somehow influnced the spinning wheels on the weaving machines. The linen would have been fed through the holes in the cards and they would have woven the material out. There are different sets of cards that would have been slotted into the machines that were used for the weaving and they would have shaped the design of the weaving pattern. So, I believe that the cards were used as some sort of guidance system for the linen whenever it was fed through the machine so that the line would be produced in a particular pattern.”