The Co Down village of Shrigley is celebrating its unique 200 year history

Shrigley, one mile from Killyleagh, was established 200 years ago and even though every one of the millworkers’ houses and cottages were swept away more than 50 years’ ago, villagers have thrown an enormous birthday party in honour of the founders who developed what was once one of the biggest mills in the British Isles in the 19th century and developed a paternalistic village around it.

Then when the mill closed, the village was saved by Jewish families who developed a leather tannery during the Second World War.

The story of how John Martin arrived from Belfast in 1824 to build a cotton mill and eventually a linen mill has now, with support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Northern Ireland, been told on a special photographic memory wall, in print and in song to mark the 200th anniversary of his arrival.

Alongside his mill he developed a self-contained industrial village, one of around half a dozen developed by enterprising mill owners in the northern part of Ireland in the 19th century. It was one of the first of what became known as “Model” villages, carefully planned with well-designed housing, a school, a village hall and plenty of recreational facilities.

Grateful villagers eventually paid for a permanent memorial to be built in honour of the Martin family in the centre of the village.

And that clock tower – the only part of the old village remaining after a new village was developed on the opposite hill between 1966 and 1970 – was at the heart of events once again as villagers and former residents celebrated in style with 14 different events.

An open air concert was held in front of the Martin Memorial clock tower, on the old Main Street of the former mill village. More than 200 people listened to the Swingtime Starlets recreating the era of swing and jive that American soldiers, who were based in the village’s Martin Hall during the Second World War, would have danced to.

One of the centrepieces of events was the unveiling of a special permanent wall mural, created by local woman Joanne McCrum and featuring more than 100 photos that were loaned by family members who brought them along to a series of workshops and meetings.

The chair of The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Northern Ireland Committee, Mukesh Sharma, travelled to Shrigley to unveil the memory wall. He praised the community spirit on display.

“The National Lottery Heritage Fund are really pleased to be able to support this series of history-based events. Thanks to National Lottery players, residents and those visiting and connected to the village have been able to delve into the heritage of the area with new information boards and a photo mural providing a lasting legacy to the project,” he said.

As there is no longer a village hall, a huge marquee had to be erected beside the clock to host events and it was the venue for a temporary exhibition of photos and items with a Shrigley connection which was also a big draw.

It was opened by former Ulster Unionist councillor Sam Osborne whose family represented the village for more than 50 years.

A fully revised and updated history of the village, Farewell to Dear Old Shrigley, was launched by the former SDLP MP for the village, Baroness Margaret Ritchie.

A permanent plaque has also been unveiled to honour the Jewish families who set up the leather tannery at the height of the 1930s Depression.

They were fleeing from Hitler’s persecution of Jewish families in Europe and arrived, largely from Czechoslovakia, to set up the award-winning tannery which processed sheep skins and cow hides.

The Utitz brothers, Alfred and Jacob, who were both Jews, arrived along with another Jew, Walter Weiniger, an Austrian, to establish United Chrometanners. They set up base in the derelict linen spinning mill which had closed on Hallowe’en night 1930, sparking nine years of severe hardship and starvation in Shrigley.

The story of how the Utitz brothers arrived from Czechoslovakia by an unusual route is told in a newly published official history of the village, Farewell to Dear Old Shrigley, written by journalist Chris Hagan whose family have lived in the village since its foundation.

In 1938, after the partition of their country to Germany, the brothers were faced with a predicament in the operation of their tannery in Prague.

They were asked to help make up for the loss of export income resulting from the loss of parts of the country to Germany. They had heard of the depression in the United Kingdom and decided to travel to London to inquire about starting a small leather finishing plant to augment their operations in Czechoslovakia.

The Utitz brothers were told that there were two particularly depressed areas. The north east of England and Northern Ireland. They travelled firstly to Durham to examine an old mill but Alfred’s son, Erik, recalled years later that it was “awful” and unsuitable for the intended use.

They decided then to consider the possibilities offered by Northern Ireland, making contact with Mr James Stewart at the Northern Ireland Office in London.

He said: “He told us ‘I will show you the worst place. If you take that you can have what you like from the authorities’. This was Shrigley.”

The brothers were told that Shrigley was the most socially deprived area during the “Hungry Thirties”. It was, according to one of those encouraging them to set up, “an absolutely awful situation”.

Erik recalled that they were shown the old, five-storey mill building but they quickly told their escort they were not interested in such a large building.

They were only interested in a small operation to finish leather skins. They were then told that they could take the ground floor alone if that suited.

Events in the wider world led to a change in those plans before the year was out as Hitler started to make his murderous way across Europe.

The old spinning mill and preparing rooms were adapted for use as a tannery under the supervision of H A Daniel, of London. Initially the plan was for no more than a dozen workers but when tanning began in November 1939, there were 90 workers.

The tannery operated under the title of United Chrometanners and they were able to use an old Utitz family trade mark, UTA, in selling their finished leather products.

The other Jews in the early years included Erwin Pollatschek, Jaroslav Horoenovsky, Nichola Vermes, Erick Flaschner, Joseph Dub, Eric Biss, Jan Seykora and Anthony Jelinek.

Jacob Utitz died in 1948 and his brother, Alfred, died two years later. Control of the firm was now left with Erik. The tannery made remarkable progress employing up to 600 people.

It was for the production of light leathers and suede’s that UCT at Shrigley became world famous, culminating in them winning the Queen's award to industry in 1966.

UCT was taken over in 1974 and tanning in Shrigley eventually ended in 2004.