Herdman's Old Flax Mill, Sion Mills, 10 Feb 2024 - v1

The name Sion comes from the townland of Seein, which lies to the south of the village. It is an anglicisation of an Irish place name: either Suidhe Fhinn (meaning "seat of Finn") or Sidheán (also spelt Síodhán and Sián, meaning "fairy mound").
In the Civil Survey of 1640 a Corn Mill on this site at Shean, Liggartown is mentioned as part of the Abercorn Estate. Galbraith Hamilton became the tenant in about 1729 and, on the adjoining lands, established a Bleach Green which was abandoned around 1779.
In the 1750s, the Mill was in need of rebuilding, and Hamilton was advised to add a Wheat Mill to it, for which he was loaned £100 by the Marquis of Abercorn. He also petitioned the Irish House of Commons in 1765 for financial assistance in building the Mill. However, this venture did not prove successful. In the 1780s, Abercorn intervened personally and more than £1,000 was laid out on improving the Seein mill. This included £39 for two French millstones and £36 for a stove for drying wheat. Abercorn acquired the services of Alexander Stewart to design and build it.
In 1828, this mill was rebuilt by Abercorn, but shortly afterwards became incorporated in the flax spinning mill as it stands today.
The first of the Herdman family to arrive in Ulster in 1688 was Captain Jack Herdman, of Herdmanston, Ayrshire, he fought for King William III at the Battle of the Boyne before settling at Glenavy, County Antrim. Further members of the family arrived from Ayrshire in 1699 and established themselves as farmers.
By the 1830s three Herdman brothers (James, John and George) were involved in businesses within Belfast. James, the eldest brother, inherited Millfield Tannery from his father, and John went into partnership with the Mulhollands who owned the York Street Spinning Mill. In 1835 all three brothers in partnership with brothers Andrew and Sinclair Mulholland and Robert Lyons purchased a flour mill located in Seein, near Strabane, County Tyrone, from the 2nd Marquess of Abercorn.
Sion (or Seein, meaning a ‘Fairy Mound’) was adjacent to the River Mourne and was purchased by way of a 500-year lease.
Among the economic factors that brought the Herdman and their partners to Sion were: the existence of the old mill which could be adapted to the spinning process; a reliable supply of water throughout the year from the River Mourne; the proximity to a large number of flax growers in North West Ulster; the port at Londonderry; and a readily available pool of labour.
Production started at Sion in November 1835 with 75 employees. Over 400 worked at the mill by 1849 when the Herdman’s became the sole owners, having bought out their partners.
By the 1870`s the mill employed over 1,000 people and at its peak Herdman`s mill had approximately 1,500 workers.
The Main Mill was built between 1853 to 1855 the architect was William Lynn and built by John McCracken. Built from grey ashlar stone quarried locally in Douglas Bridge the building was designed as a fireproof mill. This building was used for preparing and spinning until 1989 when the Mourne Mill was opened and it was abandoned.
The Main Mill was built wider than normal for spinning mills, which enabled Herdsman’s to survive in later years when others couldn't, because they were unable to accommodate these larger machines.
The frontage of the Line Preparing and Mechanics Shop were built in 1888 with yellow brick from Kilmarnock. A two-storey yellow-brick extension was built in 1888 by J. Ballantine and Company, Derry and designed by William Lynn (known as the New End).
Three storeys were added to the New End in 1907 with no pillars thus leaving more room for longer machines. This was achieved by buttressing the walls and using girders of very heavy section.
By the end of the 19th Century the Herdman family had built 240 workers houses in the village, which accommodated a population of over 2000. The buildings in the village are considered so important that 40 of them are listed for preservation.
On 9 May 1852, Sion Mills Railway Station opened and the railway served the area for 112 years until the station closed on 15 February 1965.
Unfortunately, due to competition from China, Herdman Ltd, closed down all production in Sion Mills over a 2-year period and finally ceased spinning linen on 19th May 2004 and with its closure the employment of approximately 300 workers were terminated which was a significant blow to Sion Mills and the surrounding towns and villages.
On Saturday October 2010 a derelict part of the Mill was gutted by fire. The company that owned the mill went into receivership in 2011 and in 2014 the site was bought by Strabane woman Margaret Loughrey for an estimated £1m after she won almost £27m in the EuroMillions lottery draw in Dec 2013.
There’s been a series of malicious fires over the years, the latest on Monday 19 Aug 2019 all of which have totally decimated the buildings.

[@ainemcgowan4495]

A sacred place to me....I love Herdman's Mill...it's just truly sad how it's been left and disrespected....if only the mill had been regenerated. I live in Co, Mayo, famous for it's Woollen Mills...which is today a shop and small museum with a lovely coffee shop. It is world renowned.... Herdman's Mill should have been given heritage status with the National Trust investment and protection.....I would have loved to have seen a museum, shops , public areas with gardens and a hotel a sports maybe a spa centre a nature trail a heritage trail involving the swinging bridge....local Crafts and Coffee shop/restaurant etc...what a shame it had so much potential.... Herdman's Mill brought much needed local employment through the years...it's located on the Banks of the river Mourne....as is Foxford situated on the banks of the River Moy bringing a fishing and a tourism industry....all the bonuses that mill could have bought to the locals....I think of the flax and the spinning and the believe it or not the smell of the mill workers. Their lovely voices and laughter walking up the mill lane....all life revolved around that mill and village...the Herdman's family were entrepreneurs who provided work and a village with housing, a train station two churches and school plus the mill shop, it's own doctor ...in it's hey day the mill had Bowling Greens, tennis courts and a cricket field....the actual mill was a beautiful building in a lovely creamy sandstone with a sort of ivy greenery growing on it and a clock tower...it's so sad to see the destruction and deliberate vandalism it's gone through. It could have been so much more....I was on holidays years ago in the Carribbean and I met a man that worked on the docks in Belfast and he said he remembered the boxes being shipped out from Belfast with Herdman's Mill printed on them. No doubt the contents were of beautiful homespun Irish Linen being sent to countries all over the world made by the hard working hands of the great people from the surrounding areas....so much fantastic history and Sion Mills was such a beautiful village were everyone knew each other...I'm going back into the past to a time when most people left their front doors open....I'm a romantic at heart but I have a family connection to Sion Mills and at least four members of my family once worked in the mill so it has a special place in my.........❤