Kilclief Castle (Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...

 ref: J597457) is a tower-house

Tower house

A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...

 castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 beside Strangford Lough

Strangford Lough

Strangford Lough, sometimes Strangford Loch, is a large sea loch or inlet in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the Irish Sea by the Ards Peninsula. The name Strangford is derived ; describing the fast-flowing narrows at its mouth...

 and 2.5 miles (4km) south of the village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 of Strangford

Strangford

Strangford is a small village at the mouth of Strangford Lough in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 475 people at the 2001 Census.On the other side of the lough is Portaferry and there is a ferry service between the two villages...

, County Down

County Down

-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. Kilclief is a hamlet of historical value on the Strangford to Ardglass

Ardglass

Ardglass is a coastal village in County Down, Northern Ireland and still a relatively important fishing harbour. It is situated on the B1 Ardglass to Downpatrick road, about 11 kilometres to the south east of Downpatrick, in the Lecale peninsula on the Irish Sea. It had a population of 1,668...

 road. This kind of tower-house is sometimes called the gatehouse type, because of its similarity to a castle gatehouse. It is among the oldest tower houses in Lecale

Lecale

Lecale is the name of two different historical territorial divisions both located in the east of modern-day County Down, Northern Ireland. Anciently it was the name of the ancient Irish district of Leath Cathail...

. Kilclief Castle tower house is a State Care Historic Monument in the townland

Townland

A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...

 of Kilclief, in Down District Council

Down District Council

Down District Council is a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland. The Council is headquartered in Downpatrick. Other towns in the Council area are Ardglass, Ballynahinch, Castlewellan, Clough, Crossgar, Dundrum, Killough, Killyleagh, Newcastle, Saintfield, Seaforde and Strangford...

 area, at grid ref: J5972 4575.

History

It was reputedly built by, and was the residence of, John Sely who was Bishop of Down

Bishop of Down

The Bishop of Down was a separate episcopal title which took its name after County Down in Northern Ireland. The see was in the town of Downpatrick where the bishop's seat was located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity....

 from 1429 to 1443 (when he was ejected and deprived of his offices for living there with Lettice Whailey Savage, a married woman). Mrs. Savage herself lived in Smithing-Upon-Down, in western England. She was an avid collector of rare ceramics, teacups in particular, and amassed over 4,000 of them throughout her lifetime. Unfortunately her son, Hibner Smythe, sold them all shortly after her death.

Kilclief Castle was the earliest tower-house in Lecale, built between 1412 and 1441. It was garrisoned for the Crown by Nicholas FitzSymon and ten warders in 1601-2.

Features

The castle is tall with four floors. The first floor is vaulted in stone, with two projecting turret

Turret

In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...

s. One (to the south-east) contains a spiral stair and the other (to the north-east) a series of garderobe

Garderobe

The term garderobe describes a place where clothes and other items are stored, and also a medieval toilet. In European public places, a garderobe denotes the cloakroom, wardrobe, alcove or an armoire. In Danish, Dutch, German and Spanish garderobe can mean a cloakroom. In Latvian it means checkroom...

s (latrine

Latrine

A latrine is a communal facility containing one or more commonly many toilets which may be simple pit toilets or in the case of the United States Armed Forces any toilet including modern flush toilets...

s) with access from three of the four floors. These projecting turrets are joined at roof level by a high machicolation

Machicolation

A machicolation is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones, or other objects, could be dropped on attackers at the base of a defensive wall. The design was developed in the Middle Ages when the Norman crusaders returned. A machicolated battlement...

 arch covering a drop-hole for dropping missiles on unwelcome visitors below. There are stepped battlement

Battlement

A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...

s. As at Jordan's Castle

Jordan's Castle

Jordan's Castle is a castle situated in Ardglass, County Down, Northern Ireland. The tower house known as Jordan's Castle is a State Care Historic Monument sited in the townland of Ardglass, in Down District Council area, at grid ref: J5601 3713...

, the ground floor chamber has a semicircular barrel vault

Barrel vault

A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...

 built on wicker centering. On the second floor a 13th century coffin-lid from a nearby church was reused as a lintel for the fireplace. The two-light window in the east wall is a modern reconstruction based on a surviving fragment.

The castle is now in state care. A board outside the castle tells visitors where to obtain a key should they want access. Guided tours are available in July and August.

External links

• Kilclief Castle - official site at Northern Ireland Environment Agency