The history of Loop Bridge Mill has been documented in essays by Robin Johnston and Dr John Lynch . The full text of Robin Jonston's essay is available as a download on the link below, and is also summarised in the following text. An Industrial Heritage Evaluation  of the mill complex has also been undertaken by Dr Fred Hamond, which has been included in objections to the current planning applications.

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History of Loop Bridge Mill, Robin Jonston

The Loop Bridge Mill was originally developed as a flax spinning mill and weaving factory by Moreland Cowan & Co in the 1850s.

At the time the linen industry in the Belfast and Lagan Valley region was in the throes of a major industrial revolution. This had been triggered by the development of machinery suitable for wet spinning of fine linen yarn and the introduction of steam power at the end of the 1820s. The American Civil War in the 1860s lead to a shortage of cotton for the Lancashire cotton mills and as a result the newly mechanised Ulster linen industry was offered an ideal opportunity to fill this gap. Government statistics of the time show that in 1850 in Co. Down, where the Loop Bridge Mill was situated, there were 11 spinning mills with a total of 61,462 spindles. By 1863 the county had 16 establishments with a total of 140,526 spindles.

The Loop Bridge premises comprise a number of brick-built buildings from the latter half of the 19th century, with some 20th century additions and alterations. The main four-storey building was originally used for spinning. Its form is a standard layout for spinning mills, ie, a long, narrow multi-storey building with an adjoining engine house, with its tall elegant windows, from which a rope drive would provide power to the various floors. Flax would have been received at the roughing shop on the ground floor, progressed up through the preparing room to the spinning floor and finally the reeling loft. The floors were stone flagged as a prcaution against fire and are connected by a spiral staircase. To the northwest of the spinning mill are several blocks of weaving sheds with their characteristic north light roofs. The nearby Loop River at one time fed a mill dam, which is now filled in and used for car parking. The old factory chimney has been demolished.

The decline of the Ulster linen industry at the end of the 19th century saw linen manufacture cease at the site, and the premises were leased to the printing firm of McCaw Stevenson & Orr in 1893, and then sold to them in 1896. McCaw Stevenson & Orr renamed the premises the Linenhall Works and occupied the site until 1989. The firm enjoyed success at the turn of last century with its patented Glacier window transparencies, which were used for advertising as a cheaper alternative to stained glass windows. Agencies for Glacier products were established in many countires in Europe, South America and as far as the Philipinnes.

The number of people employed by the firm was 800 at the time of its move to the Loop Bridge Mill. In 1900 McCaw Stevenson & Orr took over the recently bankrupt and well known firm of Marcus Ward & Co, and in 1904 the firm took its first order from the Meccano Co, which had just commenced production of childrens toys and was to be McCaw Stevenson & Orr's main customer until its demise in the 1970s. The 1930s were a time of decline for the company, and the lithographic department suffered damage during the war in 1941. By 1945 its workforce was reduced to 40. The post war period was a time of growth for the firm with orders from Procter and Gamble, Nestle, Michelin, Esso and Meccano, followed by further decline in the 1970s. The printing business was taken over by W. & G. Baird in 1984, with the trading name becoming MSO ltd. MSO invested in new plant to improve productivity and quality, and moved to newer, modern premises in 1989.

Since the relocation of MSO the Loop Bridge Mill has been used for a range of small enterprises including a garage, insurance broker, a photographer and artists' studios. The site has changed ownership in recent years, and the current owners intend to demolish all buildings on the site and construct a supermarket.