LOOKING at the Sion Mills stable block today, it is hard to believe that it was once a fully operational and integral part of the Herdman Estate.

Up until around 50 years ago, the stables even provided a home for an employee of the Herdman family, however the origins of the now listed building date back to well over a century ago.

The Herdman family opened their spinning mill in Sion Mills during the first potato famine of 1835, providing work and relief for the poor of the area.

They built a square mansion house, typical of that period in Ireland, in 1847 and lived there until the 1880's when the linen industry flourished.

In 1884, Emerson Herdman decided to expand the estate and he employed William Unsworth to design a 50-room Elizabethan Revival style house with stables attached. The village clock which remains today was partly paid for by the people of Sion Mills at the time the stables were erected.

For the next 60 years, the stables housed the families horses and carriages, however the birth of the motoring age saw the building used for a different purpose.

During the 1950's, Captain Jack Herdman used the stables to house his array of motor vehicles, and in fact his own personal chauffeur lived in the upper floors of the building.

The stables and the house were sold to Rev Withy in 1967 and the workings of the village clock have since been sold off.

While the stables now stand in severe disrepair, under government plans announced recently the entire block should be returned to its former glory.