Bangor Old Custom House

The Old Custom House of Bangor is a 17th-century tower and adjoining tower house. It is situated on the seafront in Bangor, County Down,

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 ...

. It is a well-preserved reminder of Bangor's seafaring history alongside its modern marina. Originally built as a custom house by The 1st Viscount Claneboye in 1637, the

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

of the tower is unique in Bangor and rare in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

. Over the past 300 years the building has served various purposes – private dwellings, an antique shop and housed hot

seawater Seawater, or salt water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has appr ...

baths. The future of the Tower House was protected when the Historic Buildings Branch of the

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

(D.o.E.) added it to their "List of Buildings of Special Interest" in 1979. Today, Tower House serves as the Council's Tourist Information Centre. It is located at by the Coast Guard building very near the bottom of High Street, Bangor, Co.Down. {{coord, 54.6648, -5.6674, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1637 Buildings and structures in County Down Bangor, County Down Custom houses in the United Kingdom Grade A listed buildings 1637 establishments in the British Empire