Historic Buildings Record · Northern Ireland
Folly Castle
Tullyboard, Ards and North Down, Northern Ireland
The record
- Designation
- Record only (not listed)
- Grade
- Record Only
- Type
- Watch tower
- Date of construction
- 1740 - 1759
- Address
- Folly Castle, Bankmore Hill, Bar Hall Road, Tullyboard, Portaferry, Co Down
- Townland
- Tullyboard
- Council
- Ards and North Down
- Country
- Northern Ireland
- Coordinates
- 54.36598, -5.53902
- Date of survey
- 08 August 1997
- HB reference
- HB24/01/065
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesUniversity Library, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 5 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1690 "Scotland below the Tay." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
The Department's description
Exterior description and setting
Split stone rubble ruins of a small (c.6m square) building set on top of Bankmore Hill c.1.5 miles S of Portaferry, with a spectacular and commanding view of the entrance to Strangford Lough and the towns of Portaferry and Strangford.
The highest standing section of wall is c 3m tall with evidence of holes in wall [?for a floor] roughly 2m up. Recently constructed small but highly incongruous ‘Celnet’ relay station next to ruin.
Historical information
A tower is shown on Bankmore Hill on George Johnston's 1755 map of Strangford Lough, which probably corresponds to the ruin we see today. The building is not marked on the OS Map of 1834, but is shown on the revised map of 1860 ‘in ruins’. Though the tower is now termed the 'Folly Castle', its prominent position suggests it may have been built as a coastal watch tower of some kind.
References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.671/P10/1 'Strangford River from an accurate survey by George Johnston of Portaferry, pilot, 1755'
2 PRONI OS/6/3/32/1 OS maps, 1st ed., 1834, Down sheet 32
3 PRONI OS/6/3/32/2 OS maps, 1st rev., 1860, Down sheet 32
Criteria for listing: architectural interest
Not listed
Criteria for listing: historic interest
Not listed
Evaluation
Ruins of small tower or folly of probable early pre 1755 construction, possibly built as a coastal watch tower.
Nearby in the register
- Marine navigation BeaconLight House/ Navigation Markunder 1 mi
- 1 Ballyfounder RoadHouseunder 1 mi
- The Old RectoryHotelunder 1 mi
- STELLA MARIS R C CHURCH,CHURCHunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.