Building Detail

Flax mill complex built between 1828 and 1834 and renamed the Queen Victoria Works during the 1887 Jubilee. Until its closure in 1990, the complex was the world's oldest operationing jute mill. The Lower Pleasance Mill was altered and lengthened in the 1860s. It rises to 2 storeys with attic and extends to 9 bays. It is rubble-built with tooled dressings. The north gable facing onto Douglas Street features 3 windows and a door at ground floor level. Blocked windows and an attic door sit above, surmounted by skew putts and a flat-topped gable finial. A modern fire escape has been added. The west elevation features a wall carried on stout flanged cast-iron columns at ground floor level, inserted in 2 stages during the 1860s remodelling. 9 wooden-framed windows sit above at first floor level. The east elevation features an altered ground floor. First floor level is similar to the west elevation. The south gable features a projecting stone stair beside the engine house. The interior retains its wooden floors supported on iron columns. Brick arches were laid on top in the 1860s. A 4 bay addition to the south features an iron-framed ground floor, whilst the first floor displays wooden ceilings throughout. The attic features wooden collar beams with wrought-iron ties. The ancillary buildings are presently unlisted. They include the 1860s preparing sheds west of the Lower Pleasance Mill and the 1872 weaving sheds on Milne's West Wynd. A WC block and engine house also adjoin.