This is the beautiful old flax mill on the Ouseburn, built in 1848 and now better known as featuring the Cluny, Seven Stories and 36 Lime Street.

Now this has been the site of a mill for much longer. In fact, we can see an earlier iteration of a corn mill on the illustration from the 1830s or 40s. I imagine the windmill on Stepney Bank was linked.

By 1848 though John Dobson was commissioned to design this huge mill for flax - used for food, cloths, rope etc. The original owners were Plummer & Clarke and was mechanised from the outset with steam engines (hence the big chimney outside). The concrete foundations go down 6ft but the visible layers are entirely of dressed Caithness stone. 500 people worked here upon opening, mostly young girls under the supervision of experienced foremen.

To celebrate the opening the most esteemed townsfolk, including the architect, had a roast beef dinner on the third floor. During this dinner, Dobson stated there was no building which gave him greater anxiety than this one thanks to its complexity. Every nook and cranny was filled with machinery and he was incredibly concerned with the stability of the structure. Alas, we see it still stands.

Its use as a flax mill was short lived. By 1866 it was converted for use as a flour mill, with much of the building repurposed as a warehouse to store grain and flour. It ended up dormant through the early 20th century until spirits and alcohol were stored here from the 1920s. John Ewan McPherson bottled and stored his Cluny Whisky here from this decade, having already made a success over the prior decades. It was he who gave this building its modern moniker.

Of course, these days it’s one of the foremost cultural hubs in Newcastle.