Newtownards

Newtownards
County Down
Newtownards from Scrabo Tower
Location
Location:	54°35’28"N, 5°40’48"W
Data
Population:	27,821  (2001)
Post town:	Newtownards
Postcode:	BT22, BT23
Dialling code:	028
Local Government
Council:	Ards and North Down
Parliamentary constituency:	Strangford

Newtownards is a large town in County Down. It stands at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. Approximately 86 percent of the population is from a Protestant and nine percent from a Roman Catholic background. The town is known colloquially by locals as "Ards".

History

Early foundation and refoundation

In 545 AD, St Finian founded a monastery near to present-day Newtownards. He named it "Movilla" (Magh Bhile, "the plain of the sacred tree,"), which suggests that the land had previously been a sacred pagan site. The monastery was destroyed by the Vikings at some time after 824 AD. In the 12th century, it joined together with Bangor Abbey as an Augustinian monastery. Later, the monastery was raided by Hugh O'Neill from mid-Ulster, after which the urban settlement at Movilla disappeared and the area around it became known as "Ballylisnevin" ("the town land of the fort of the family of Nevin").

The Normans, who arrived in Ireland after 1169, founded a town in the same place around 1226, named it "Nove Ville de Blathewyc" ("New Town of Blathewyc"; the name of an earlier Irish territory), and established a Dominican priory. The town declined, however, and by the 15th century the land was controlled by the O'Neill clan, with the town virtually abandoned.

Modern Era

In 1605, Hugh Montgomery, later 1st Viscount of the Great Ardes, was granted the lands and set about building a new town, which he called Newtown. Later the name expanded to Newtownards. Official records show the town was established in 1606. Montgomery built a residence in the ruins of the old priory, the tower of which remains. Scottish settlers arrived in large numbers and the town grew quickly. Due to the shallow mud of Strangford Lough, Newtown never developed as a port, with goods instead transported from the nearby town of Donaghadee on the Irish Sea coast of the Ards Peninsula. Instead, it became a market town, with the Market House in Conway Square constructed in 1770. The market still operates today on a weekly basis.

On the morning of Pike Sunday, 10 June 1798, during the Irish Rebellion of 1798, a force of United Irishmen, mainly from Bangor, Donaghadee, Greyabbey and Ballywalter, attempted to occupy the town of Newtownards. They were met with musket fire from the market house and were defeated.

The early 19th century saw the reclamation of the marshlands south of the town. Newtownards acquired rail links to Belfast, by way of Comber and Dundonald, in 1850, and to Donaghadee in 1861. By the same year the town's population had risen to 9,500. As the economy became increasingly tied to Belfast, the town continued to prosper and by the 20th century had increasingly became a commuter town. Newtownards' population reached 13,100 in 1961 and doubled to 27,800 by the end of the century.

On 12 July 1867 despite the Party Processions Acts, the Orange Order paraded from Bangor to Newtownards. It was organised by William Johnston and about 30,000 took part. (Johnson was sentenced to a short term in prison the next year for his actions.)

During the Troubles, Newtownards was the scene of a car bomb attack on 5 July 1993, when Roma's Bar in Regent Street was targeted. The pub was completely destroyed, but has since been rebuilt. The attack was carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army with a 1,500 lb device. There were no fatalities.

Recent development

Castlebawn Shopping Centre is a proposed £250 million, 75 acre shopping centre and retail park in Newtownards. The proposals, which promise to create up to 2,000 jobs, will extend the town centre and edge of centre southwards in a three-stage development, which was expected to be completed by 2012. As of December 2011, Tesco Extra, Matalan, Discount NI and Home Bargains have been completed. Matalan, Home Bargains and Discount NI are in the retail units directly beside Tesco.

About the town

Scrabo Tower (with Newtownards in the background)

Scrabo Tower

The town of Newtownards is overlooked by the 100-foot high Scrabo Tower. The tower was erected as a memorial to Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, in recognition of his concern for the plight of his tenants during the great potato famine.

The tower is open to the public and houses a historical and local environment exhibition. The basalt topped sandstone hill at Scrabo is one of the dominant features of north Down. The tower now stands tall in Scrabo Country Park with its woodland walks and parkland through Killynether Wood.

Somme Heritage Centre

The Somme Heritage Centre, which is situated a little north of the town, is the Somme Association's flagship project. Situated adjacent to the Clandeboye Estate outside Newtownards, the centre is a unique visitor attraction of international significance showing the reality of the Great War and its effects on the community at home.

The centre commemorates the involvement of the 36th (Ulster) and 16th (Irish) divisions in the Battle of the Somme, the 10th (Irish) Division in Gallipoli, Salonika and Palestine and provides displays and information on the entire Irish contribution to the First World War. The centre is built on ground provided by the council in what is to be the Whitespots Country Park. It is linked to Helen's Tower on the Clandeboye Estate by the Ulster Way.

Historically, the 36th (Ulster) Division trained on the estate during the first few months of the war and German prisoners of war were interned there. A replica of Helen's Tower was built on the Somme battlefield as Northern Ireland's national war memorial.

Ark Open Farm

To the north of the town is the Ark Open Farm, specialising in rare and endangered species of cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry, many of which are no longer seen in Ireland today. Facilities at the farm include a petting zoo, pony rides and restaurant.

Mount Stewart

Mount Stewart stands on the east shore of Strangford Lough, a few miles outside Newtownards and near Greyabbey. It is an 18th-century house and garden — the home of the Marquess of Londonderry. The house and its contents reflect the history of the Londonderrys who played a leading role in British social and political life. The ninety-eight acre garden at Mount Stewart has been proposed as a UNESCO world heritage site.

The property was largely created by Edith, Lady Londonderry, wife of the Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry, in the 1920s, it has an unrivalled collection of rare and unusual plants.

Newtownards Airport

Newtownards Airport is to the south of the town and is home of the Ulster Flying Club — Northern Ireland's largest, non-commercial training and flying organisation. Many private pilot owners base their aircraft in the airfield's several hangars. The airport is used for an air display show every June. This is one of the largest in Northern Ireland, with displays by the Red Arrows, Territorial Army and Royal Air Force.

Sport

• Cricket: Ards Cricket Club
• Football: Ards FC and Ards Rangers FC
• Rugby: Ards RFC
• Snooker and billiards: The town currently has two snooker and billiards clubs. St Pat's Snooker and Billiards Club and the Queens Hall

The Ards TT

From 1928 to 1936, the RAC Tourist Trophy (TT) motor car races took place on a closed road circuit in County Down encompassing Newtownards, Comber and Dundonald. The pits were still visible up until the 1960s. Industrialist and pioneer of the modern agricultural tractor, Harry Ferguson, was instrumental in setting up the race, which was known as the Ards TT.

At the time the Ards TT was Northern Ireland’s premier sporting event, regularly attracting crowds in excess of a quarter of a million people. Although it was a speed event, the entries were handicapped in order to allow cars of very different sizes and capabilities to race against each other on supposedly even terms over 30 laps (35 laps from 1933) of the 13.7 mile circuit.

On 5 September 1936, in wet conditions, local driver Jack Chambers lost control of his Riley beneath the railway bridge coming into Newtownards, and crashed into the crowd killing eight spectators. This tragedy brought an end to nine years of racing over the Ards road circuit.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Newtownards)

• Newtownards Market House
• Newtownards Priory
• Newtownards Directory 1910
• Movilla Monastic Site
• Ballywalter Community Online
• Culture Northern Ireland - Tourist Trophy racing
• Culture Northern Ireland
• Dr Wright Memorial Pipe Band