The Old Corn Mill sat behind the present Leisure Centre on the banks of the River Enler. Its origin is uncertain, but Hugh Montgomery (Viscount Ardes) would have been under obligation to provide a water mill on his estate for use of the tenants, and install in it a skilled miller. Lady Montgomery is said to have built water mills in all the parishes, and she may have been responsible for that at Comber. Or can we trace its history back to the monks of Comber Abbey? Cistercians generally had a mill and Lady Montgomery may simply have repaired it.
The Upper Corn Mill was close to the bottom of what is now Laureldale. This mill was water-driven by a stream coming from Ballyalloly Lough.
Reference to these mills is found in the Rent Roll of Mount Alexander for 1684 where it is recorded that John McMurray held mills on lease at Comber for 41 years from 1681 at an annual rent of £47. Both were multure mills where tenants of the Manor were bound to have their corn ground, paying the accustomed toll (probably the sixteenth grain) to the miller. For every barrel of corn ground elsewhere, the tenant must pay two shillings to the Lord of the Manor.
John McMurray would not have been the actual miller. Rather he held the lease as an investment, letting out the multuring of the mills to the miller by the year, or a period of years. The lease expired in 1722 and in 1726 Sir Robert Colville, owner of the Manor of Comber since 1679, gave it to a Mrs Jane Meredith, again for 41 years. She sub-let the Upper Mill to Thomas Andrews who had been working it since 1722.
When Jane Meredith died in 1730 the lease of the two corn mills went to her nephew John, who immediately assigned it to Rev Charles Morris. When he died in 1764 his widow sold the last 3 years' interest on the lease to a William Bell who had worked the Old Mill for him. In 1768, when the lease expired, John Andrews "the great" (Thomas' son) negotiated a fresh lease of the two mills with Alexander Stewart who had bought the Manor of Comber in 1744. This lease, for the life of his 3 sons Michael, John and James, was at a yearly rent of £120.
In 1769 John Andrews installed machinery for dressing fine flour in the Old Mill. This now became known as the Flour Mill. Grinding of oats and barley was now confined to the Upper Mill which became known as the Corn Mill.
As the quantity of flour which could be made was very small (not above 2 tons a week), it was decided to build a new flour mill. Initially this was in a low thatched building, originally the linen wash mill now greatly enlarged. But in 1771 an impressive 5-storey building was erected. It cost a lot of money, £1,400, but there would have been some Government help as they were offering bounties at this time of food shortage for such ventures. The river was slightly diverted to serve the flour mill, along with a new enlarged linen wash mill.
"Wanted. A miller who can be well recommended for his honesty, sobriety, and skill in grinding wheat and dressing flour. Such a person will meet with suitable encouragement by immediately applying to John Andrews, merchant, Comber.'
22nd Oct. 1771 Belfast Newsletter.
Wheat was collected by agents in all the little ports on Strangford Lough and shipped in small vessels of 10-20 tons to the mouth of the Comber River where it was unloaded at low tide at Ringcreevy and carted to the mill. Two or three cargoes a year would be brought from as far away as Dublin, or occasionally even the American Colonies.
Damage was caused to the Flour Mill on the Night of the Big Wind (Jan 6/7 1839) when the chimney was levelled to the ground. 7,000 circular bricks at 35/- per thousand were brought over from Scotland to rebuild it. The bricks in the old chimney had been rectangular. Incidentally another Andrews mill - a windmill - existed on the aptly named Windmill Hill. It is first mentioned in 1778, and on the Night of the Big Wind the top blew off causing severe damage to the roof of the new Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church which was about to be opened.
The advent of the railway to Comber in 1850 meant that foreign wheat imported into Belfast could now be transported to Comber at a much lower cost than by road. And after the Repeal of the Corn Laws became effective in 1849 imported wheat was no longer subject to tariffs with a consequent reduction in price. As a result local farmers had to accept a corresponding price or stop growing it; inevitably they stopped growing it. The damp climate was also a contributory factor in the decline of wheat growing locally as the grain had to be kiln dried, which was expensive in fuel and resulted in a loss of weight. This decreased its value considerably in comparison with the dry foreign grain.
Storage of wheat became a problem, and in 1860 the foundation stone was laid for a new grain store in Comber.
"This Grain Store was built by John Andrews, William G. Andrews, Isaac Andrews, James Andrews; Foundation stone laid the second day of May 1860. J. Andrews & Sons, Comber".
This store was a plain brick structure with six floors, 86 feet long by 36 feet broad, and was completed in December 1863, built entirely by local talent at a cost of £1,750.
This building had many uses during the years. Before World War I a Dutchman named Stem manufactured rice starch here, but this was not a success and production stopped on the outbreak of war. It was used by Comber Distilleries for storing barley, and then during the Second World War American soldiers were billeted there. This was when iron steps were erected at the gable end and doors cut into each floor - as a fire precaution. After the War two retired Indian Army colonels (one of whom was the father of Paddy Ashdown) took the building over for killing pigs and it is sometimes referred to as the Old Piggery. After the Piggery closed the building was taken over for deep litter hens in the 1960s and later was used for storing refrigerators (J Love & Son) and racing yachts (Racing Yachts Ireland Ltd). In July 1978 the Grain Store was gutted in a fire caused by vandals. It had to be demolished.
After 1868 the Andrews business went through a difficult time. Then in 1876 John Andrews Junior returned from Liverpool and took control of the milling operations. Soon the Flour Mill was in profit again. John and his brother Thomas James bought out the interest of their cousins (John and James) in the corn and flour mills, thus dissolving the firm of James Andrews & Sons. The new firm of Isaac Andrews & Sons set about making improvements, including provision of a railway siding to the Flour Mill. Some old buildings had actually been cleared away to make room for the track when the whole scheme was suddenly abandoned.
The brothers had decided that the future of the flour milling business was in Belfast. In 1880 they purchased and modernised mills in Meadow Street and this was followed in 1882 by the Belfast Mills. These had a combined capacity of 380 tons of wheat compared with only 90 tons at Comber. So in 1883 Comber Flour Mill closed down, although the office was not transferred until 1885 and an experimental telephone line was installed between Comber and Meadow Street. The firm of John Andrews & Co, who owned the Flax Spinning Mill, took over the Corn Mill to preserve the water rights for the Spinning Mill. The Corn Mill buildings were removed around 20 years later.
The 5-storey Flour Mill was knocked down sometime around 1900. It is said that the bricks were used to build the row of houses in Castle Lane known as McBurney's Row. The Old Mill on the banks of the Enler survived until comparatively recent times when it too was demolished.
Andrews Flour continued to operate from their Belfast premises on Percy Street throughout the 20th Century, a selection of local newspaper advertisements can be seen above. While long gone from Comber, in 2022 Andrews Flour Mills celebrated in 300th anniversary, today it is Northern Ireland's only independent flour milling company.
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