Portaferry Castle

Portaferry, United Kingdom

Portaferry Castle is a small tower house in built in the 16th century by William Le Savage. In 1635, Patrick Savage's brother-in-law, Sir James Montgomery of Rosemount (Greyabbey), repaired the castle by roofing and flooring it so that his sister could live in greater comfort there.

It is a square building with a small projecting turret on the south corner. It is three storeys high plus attic and there is no vault. Most of the eastern corner is in ruins. The entrance at the base of the tower is protected by a small machicolation and the entrance to the ground floor chamber is protected by a murder-hole. A curved stairway within the tower rises to the first floor and a spiral stairway in the west corner continues to roof level.

References:

Wikipedia

Castles and fortifications in United Kingdom

Address

Castle Street 3, Portaferry, United Kingdom

See all sites in Portaferry

Details

Founded: 16th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in United Kingdom

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.2/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

Strangford Castle (1,1 km)
Castle Ward (2,5 km)
Killyleagh Castle (7,2 km)
Audley's Castle (1,5 km)
Kilclief Castle (5,1 km)
Quintin Castle (3,9 km)
Audleystown Court Cairn (3,1 km)

Belfast City Hall (34,3 km)
St. Anne's Cathedral (34,7 km)
Albert Memorial Clock (34,4 km)
Grand Opera House (34,4 km)
Carrickfergus Castle (40,5 km)
Ulster Museum (33,5 km)
Belfast Castle (38,6 km)
Botanic Gardens of Belfast (33,2 km)
Parliament Building of Belfast (30,9 km)

User Reviews

David Brown (2 years ago)
Smaller than expected . Closed.

HJ Ellison (4 years ago)
Nice setting for Norman Castle. Castle can only be viewed from outside but adjacent tourist information centre has good local history information

joe devonport (4 years ago)
Visited this sometime ago and found the 'family' castle - Savage. The visitor center was a really big help and assisted with information and pictures.

Peter Lyons (5 years ago)
A well maintained tourist info centre that usually has an exhibition to look at.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright joiseyshowaa

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Broch of Gurness

The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.

The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick.