Helen's Tower

Like my last post and during the European Heritage Open Day back in September, Matthew (he took the photo) Christopher, Dudley (our dog) and I spent a very enjoyable 2 hours at Helen's Tower. It is quite a walk through the woods at Clandeboye, but we had great fun along the way as we gathered & ate wild blackberries. We arrived at the Tower - which we have been up to before but never been inside, and I was very suprised how small it was compared to Scrabo Tower in Newtownards.

There were a few volunteers in the kitchen of the Tower where we were refreshed by a glass of cold orange juice and a few wipes which removed the purple mess from our mouths left by the blackberries!

The view from the top of the Tower was breathtaking - it was a beautiful warm, sunny and clear day, perfect for the visit, we had a panoramic view of North Down, Belfast and the Ards Peninsula.

It was a great day out we all really enjoyed ourselves - something unique and so very important to our local heritage - Oh Yes, a Cafollas Ice Cream on the Way home!

A wee snippet about the Tower - Helen's Tower lies in the woods of the Clandeboye Estate in Bangor, Northern Ireland. The tower was commissioned by Lord Dufferin of Clandeboye, designed by Scottish architect William Burn and completed in October 1861. The tower was named in honour of Dufferin's mother, Helen Selina Blackwood, the Lady Dufferin.

A close replica of Helen's Tower, the Ulster Tower, was built at Thiepval in 1921 to honour the men of the 36th (Ulster) Division who fell at the Battle of the Somme. Clandeboye Estate was used for army training by the 36th (Ulster) Division during the First World War.

HMA

Old Priory - Newtownards

I spent a very enjoyable hour at the Old Priory, Newtownards back in September 2009 - during the European Heritage Open Day. It is a very impressive building and an important landmark within the town of Newtownards. The weather that Saturday was warm and sunny, which added to the pleasure of the visit and I managed to take this snap of the building and its immediate surroundings - Here is a snippet about the building

Anglicans worshipped in The Old Priory in Castle Street built by Sir Robert Colvill in 1632 on the ruin of the Dominican Priory. The tower is the only remains of a Dominican Friary founded in 13th century and burned in 1572. Services were then held in a small chapel at the east end of the church. The steeple was finished in 1636 and a large bell place there by Lord Viscount Montgomery. The entrance arch has the names of many Montgomerys carved and a large tomb of the Colville family stands in the aisle. In 1764 there were only 60 Anglicans in the town, but it got badly into disrepair by end of 17th century. The walls were repaired in 1836, but refurbished as a church & consecrated 27 Jan 1860. Its dimensions are 63 by 46 feet. The rector 1789- 1809 was Rev John Cleland followed by Rev Mark Cassidy. The church was used until St. Marks was built in 1817.It then served as a court house.

There is no graveyard, burials at Movilla Abbey, the building is now in the care of Department of the Environment Historic Monuments.

There is a lot more info from a very well read local historian, Mark Thompson here:- http://clydesburn.blogspot.com/2009/02/newtownards-priory-one-of-great-ulster.html

HMA