Ardkeen

Movilla Abbey

Newtownards · 13 miles

The remains of Movilla Abbey lie close to Newtownards in County Down, Northern Ireland, and are recorded on maps as a historic ruin. The site marks the location of a monastic settlement that began in the early sixth century and later developed into one of the most prominent early Christian foundations in Ulster. Founded in 540 by St Finnian under the patronage of the Dál Fiatach king, the monastery grew into a centre of worship, study and craft. By the seventh century it held a complete Latin Vulgate Bible, attracting scholars such as St Columba, who trained there and is linked to an early dispute over copying the manuscript. The community also produced notable bronze and glasswork, evidence of which emerged from excavations in the early 1980s. After a Viking raid in 823 the abbey entered a period of decline, was briefly revitalised by Augustinian monks in the twelfth century, and finally fell under dissolution in 1542 before being burnt in the Elizabethan era. Today the visible fabric consists of the 15th-century Augustinian church, reduced to two gables set roughly 150 feet apart, with interior dimensions of about 107 feet by 21 feet. The ruin can be approached from Newtownards and is open to the public; no admission charge or visitor facilities are recorded. The site offers a tangible glimpse of the long-standing religious and craft traditions once associated with Movilla.

Helen's Tower

Conlig · 15 miles

Perched on the highest point of the Clandeboye Estate, a wooded hill between Bangor and Newtownards, the 130-metre-high rise offers panoramic views over the surrounding countryside and Belfast Lough. The monument, known locally as Helen’s Tower, lies near the village of Conlig in County Down and forms the most prominent feature of the estate’s English-style landscape garden created in the mid-19th century. The tower was erected by the 5th Lord Dufferin and Claneboye after he inherited the estate in 1841. Designed by the architect William Burn in the Scottish Baronial Revival style, construction was completed by November 1850 and the interior finished on 23 October 1861. Standing 60 feet tall, the square-plan building incorporates a round stair tower, a flat turreted roof and four corbelled corner turrets, the largest of which houses a cap-house that leads to the viewing platform. Inside, a metal plate displays a poem written by Lord Dufferin’s mother, Helen, after whom the tower is named; the shrine later accumulated verses from other poets, including the well-known “Helen’s Tower” by Tennyson. The design later inspired the Ulster Tower war memorial at Thiepval, France. Designated a Grade A historic building in 1975, the structure fell into neglect before being restored in the 1980s. It is now managed by the Irish Landmark Trust and can be hired as holiday accommodation. No specific visitor facilities or admission charges are recorded, but the tower remains a visible landmark within the Clandeboye Estate, accessible via the surrounding parkland.

Belvoir Park Forest

Stranmillis · 18 miles

Along the River Lagan, a 75-hectare urban woodland provides a rare example of a working forest within a city. Managed by the Forest Service and listed as a nature reserve, the site lies close to Stranmillis in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Its status as a working forest makes it unique across the United Kingdom, and it is recognised for the presence of red squirrels among its resident wildlife. The area opened to the public in 1961 after being incorporated into the former estate of the Hills family, who enclosed the land in the 1740s. Remnants of that period survive as farm buildings and an ice house built into a 12th-century Norman motte. The original house has been removed, its footprint now occupied by a car park. Within the grounds the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds maintains its Northern Ireland headquarters, and an arboretum holds some of Belfast’s oldest and most unusual trees, including around one hundred veteran oaks that can be up to 350 years old. Wildlife surveys record a range of species such as large bracket fungi, toothwort, giant hog-weed, long-eared owls, kingfishers, long-tailed tits, badgers and red foxes. Cycling is prohibited within the forest, but the car park offers a point of access for visitors wishing to explore the trails on foot.

Let's Go Hydro

Carryduff · 16 miles

Lough Cowey

Ardkeen · 1.2 miles

Appears to be a natural lake that has been augmented to form a reservoir, previously for mill use, but now for the adjacent water works.

Brienne & Jaime's Hanging Tree

Portaferry · 3.7 miles

The precise tree in the Riverlands where Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister find the bodies of three women hanging from a tree in season 2 of Game of Thrones®.