Bangor Castle is a country house situated in Castle Park in

Bangor, County Down Bangor ( ; ) is a city and seaside resort in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to which it is linke ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. The building, which is also referred to as Bangor Town Hall and is now used as the offices of

Ards and North Down Borough Council Ards and North Down Borough Council is a local authority in Northern Ireland that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Ards Borough Council and North Down Borough Council. The first elections to the authority were on 22 May 2014 and it ...

, is a Grade A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The site was first occupied by

Bangor Abbey Bangor Abbey was established by Saint Comgall in 558 in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland and was famous for its learning and austere rule. It is not to be confused with the slightly older abbey in Wales on the site of Bangor Cathedral. Hist ...

which was founded by St. Comgall in 558 and was home to Franciscan friars until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1542. A mansion was built on the site for Sir James Hamilton, who had acted as an agent and informant for

King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

, in around 1611: it was remodelled in the late 18th century. The current building was commissioned by The Hon Robert Edward Ward, who had served as High Sheriff of Down for 1842 and was a brother of the 3rd Viscount Bangor. It was designed by the Scottish architect,

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred ...

, in the Jacobethan style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1852. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with five bays facing east. The first bay on the left featured a three-stage

castellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

tower with a corner clock turret, which was surmounted by a

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

-shaped roof and a

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

. The second bay, which contained a porch with an arched doorway, the third bay and the fourth bay were all recessed: they were fenestrated by

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

ed and transomed windows on the lower floors and by dormer windows at attic level. The right hand two bays were also fenestrated by mullioned and transomed windows but were gabled. Internally, the mansion contained 35 bedrooms and a huge salon for musical recitals: the violinist, William Henley, performed in the chamber at a concert hosted by the Belfast Orchestral Society in July 1893. Ward's only daughter and heiress, Matilda Catherine Maude, married the 5th Baron Clanmorris in 1878. After his death in 1916, Lady Clanmorris retained possession of the house until her own death in 1941. After the then local authority, Bangor Borough Council, bought the castle and grounds in 1941, the music saloon was converted into a council chamber, and the council, which had previously been based in Main Street, relocated to the castle in 1952. The building continued to serve as the headquarters of the borough council and, after local government reorganisation in 1973, it went to become the meeting place of

North Down Borough Council North Down Borough Council was a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ards Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become North Down and Ards District Council. Its m ...

. North Down Borough Council merged with Ards Borough Council in 2015 and the building then became the meeting place of the combined authority,

. The gardens, designed by the Ward family in the 1840s, have won many awards for their outstanding blooms and are open to the public. The building also hosts a museum to the Ward and Bingham families, which includes the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

awarded to Commander The Hon. Edward Bingham, son of the 5th Baron Clanmorris. Works of art in the building include a portrait by

Edwin Long Edwin Longsden Long (12 July 1829 – 15 May 1891) was a British genre, history, biblical and portrait painter. Life and works Long was born in Bath, Somerset, the son of James Long, a hairdresser, (from Kelston in Somerset), and was edu ...

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

. Bangor Castle was used as a film location for the 2017 movie "The Bookshop" starring Emily Mortimer and Bill Nighy.

References

{{Government buildings in Northern Ireland Castles in County Down Bangor, County Down Grade A listed buildings Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest 1852 establishments in Ireland Government buildings completed in 1852 City and town halls in Northern Ireland

History

See also

References