SIGHTSEEING IN ANTRIM - ANTRIM ROUND TOWER, CASTLE GARDENS ANTRIM - 17TH APRIL 2012

My husband is tinkering with the interior of our Rover 75, it doesn't have a rear seat at present.  Therefore we had to take our son to the train station in Antrim in our SD1.  I decided that this was the perfect opportunity for a photo-shoot and a looking around some tourist attractions that we have been close to virtually every week for the last 2 years, but have never visited.

Our first stop was Antrim Round Tower.   The Round Tower and Bullaun Stone are situated just outside the town and clearly marked from Steeple Road.  


The tower and stone are what remains of an ancient monastery.  The tower was build around the 10th century as a bell tower for protection from raiders.  It is known locally as The Steeple.     It is 28 metres all and one of the finest of it kind remaining in Ireland.

Close to the tower sits a large stone,  "Bullaun".  These large stones are often found at religious sites.  On the top of the stone there are 2 indents which are said to be always filled with water (they were when we visited).   There's a story that after the drought of 1887, the gardener who maintained the grounds of the monastery drained the large hollow only to find it filled the next day.  

There are a number of suggestions regarding the use of the stone.  Firstly, it was a kitchen tool, where monks washed grain in the larger hole and then grind the grain in the small hole.  Secondly, it may have been used as a baptismal font and in the early ages converted pagans were baptised and anointed here.  However, local folk lore suggests when the tower was completed, a witch who was unhappy about the erection of the tower, jumped from the top of the tower, landed a stone 100 metres away from the and left the impressions of her knee and elbow, which remain to this day and that is why it is known as "The Witches Stone"

 

From the round tower, we travelled the short distance to Antrim Castle Gardens.   The gardens are currently undergoing Northern Ireland's largest ever historic garden restoration.  The restoration project which began in August 2010 should be finished by late 2012, will cost an estimated £6 million.

The castle was erected between 1610 and 1666, it was burnt and destroyed in 1922.  It lay in ruins from 1922 until 1970 when it was demolished.  Today, all that remains of the castle is a slightly raised grass platform and a tower. The estate features include an ancient motte, a parterre garden,  Clotworthy House, formal garden, wilderness garden, walk ways, Deerpark Bridge, Long Canal and ponds.  Refurbishment work has finished on the Clotworthy buildings. Structural repairs have been carried out on the Long Barn and the Victorian Garage and the insides have been redesigned.  

Having parked the car, our first port of call was the the courtyard, which has been fitted with new paths, gardens have been laid out but when we visited hadn't been planted up.  From here we were able to see the roof of the Victorian Garage is covered in Sedum, which helps to insulate the building.   

"The Massereene Wolfhound" stands proudly in the centre of the courtyard.  The plaque below the statue reads:

The Massereene Wolfhound

Carved Circa 1612

This hound saved the life of Lady Marion Clotworthy when she was attacked by wolves on the shore of Antrim Bay.   The hound also save the castle from attack by warning the defenders.

Sir Hugh Clotworthy had this statue carved and placed on the battlements of the castle where it stayed until the end of the 18th Century.
 

From the courtyard we passed the newly opened coffee shop, we went into the visitors centre, here we were able to read about the history of the estate.  We went up to the next floor to view a 3D model of the original castle.  On our decent back down to the ground floor the lift got stuck, now for someone like me who is terrified of small spaces and lift, this was a rather traumatic experience for me, even though it only took my husband about 5 minutes to work out how to get the lift doors opened.  When he got the doors opened we were able to see that the lift was only a foot or two from the floor below, by this time a member of staff had arrived and was able to assist us out of the lift.

From here we walked along the outer perimeter of the Clotworthy buildings where workmen were working away at the landscaping.  We then entered the Parterre Garden.  Again this area has received a lot of work the most obvious being the new pavilion which was erected in January 2012.   Although it isn't built from the wrought iron or wood that you'd normally see in historic gardens here in Ireland, it does not look out of place.

The photograph below shows the view of the formal garden from the pavilion.

Due to time restraints this was all we were able to see, but we thoroughly enjoyed our time here and will definitely be returning to see the rest of the gardens.