Castle Gardens (Lisburn)

A castle you can't see, and the gardens that outlived it

Lisburn had a castle. It stood here — a 17th-century fortified manor house built by the Conway family, the town's landlords — and it is gone. What is left is more interesting than a ruin: the ground it stood on, shaped into terraces, and a handful of pieces of the building itself that were too well made to bother demolishing.

The best of those is the perron, a double-flight ceremonial staircase in brick and stone with a balustrade and urns, which once carried people up towards the house and now carries you up through the garden. Nearby is a red sandstone gateway dated 1677. Both are in daily use as garden features, which is a strangely undramatic fate for the doorway of a manor house.

The terraces themselves are the seventeenth-century layout, begun under the Conways and developed substantially from the 1650s onwards by George Rawdon, their agent in Ireland. Above them sit nineteenth-century gardens, and both levels were restored together in June 2008 with Heritage Lottery Fund support. A wartime air raid shelter on the site was turned into an education space at the same time.

It is a small garden and it does not take long, but it is beautifully situated: tree avenues, a fountain, bedding, benches, and the ground falling away towards the Lagan valley. Robins, woodpigeons and tits work the trees, bats work the evening. And once a year the whole thing is strung with lights for the city's winter trail and turns into something completely different in the dark.

Free, city centre 17th-century terraces 1677 sandstone gateway 19th-century gardens and fountain Tree avenue and monument Guided tours by arrangement

Two free things, one square:

The Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum stands beside the gardens and is free to enter, open Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 5pm with last entry at 4.45pm. Guided tours of the gardens, school programmes and workshops are run through the museum — call 028 9266 3377 to arrange one.

What to wear & bring

👟Comfy shoesTerraced ground with steps between levels. Nothing hard, but not flat either.

🧥A light coatHigh ground above the Lagan valley, so there is usually a bit of air moving through the trees.

☕Money for the townNo café in the gardens, but Lisburn city centre is right there and the museum is next door.

📷A cameraThe perron, the gateway and the avenue. Autumn and the winter light trail are both worth timing for.

What's on at the gardens

Guided tours of Castle Gardens are run through the Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum, along with school education programmes and workshops. Call 028 9266 3377 to arrange one — the history here rewards someone pointing at it.

In the winter the gardens host the city's light trail, when the terraces and trees are lit and the whole garden works after dark. The council programmes community events here through the year; their listings are the place to check before you travel.

Everything before you go

Cost

Free

Opening

Open daily in daylight hours

Best for ages

All ages, though it is a garden for looking at rather than a park for running about — there is no play park

What's there

Restored 17th-century terraces, a 1677 red sandstone gateway, a double-flight perron staircase, 19th-century upper gardens, a fountain, a tree avenue and monument, seating, a former air raid shelter used as an education space

History

Site of Lisburn Castle, a 17th-century fortified manor house of the Conway family. Gifted to the people of Lisburn in 1903 by Sir John Murray Scott, heir to Lady Wallace. Terraces and upper gardens restored in June 2008 with Heritage Lottery Fund support

Toilets

Public toilets on site

Parking

Lisburn city-centre car parks — the gardens are in the middle of town

Dogs

Under control, and clean up after them

Accessibility

Accessible pathways are provided, but the gardens are terraced and some routes involve steps

How long to allow

45–90 minutes; longer with the museum next door

Food

No café in the gardens; Lisburn city centre is a minute's walk

Next door

Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum — free, Monday to Saturday 9.30am–5pm, last entry 4.45pm

Tours

Guided garden tours, school programmes and workshops through the museum on 028 9266 3377

Address

Castle Gardens, Castle Street, Lisburn, Co Antrim

Questions

Before you go

Is it free?

Yes — the gardens are free, and so is the Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum beside them.

Is there still a castle?

No. Lisburn Castle was a 17th-century fortified manor house of the Conway family and it is gone. What survives are the terraces, a red sandstone gateway dated 1677, and the double-flight perron staircase.

Can we take a tour?

Yes — guided tours of the gardens are arranged through the Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum on 028 9266 3377, along with school programmes and workshops.

Is there a play park or a café?

Not inside the gardens. This is a historic garden rather than a facilities park — but you are in the middle of Lisburn, so both are a minute away.

Is it accessible?

There are accessible pathways, but the site is terraced by design, so some routes involve steps. It is worth taking the accessible route rather than the direct one.

Are there toilets?

Yes, public toilets on site.

When were the gardens restored?

The 17th-century terraces and the 19th-century upper gardens were restored in June 2008 with grant aid from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

What is the light trail?

A winter light trail that runs in the gardens, lighting the terraces and trees. Check the council's listings for dates and booking.

Getting there

Castle Gardens is in the middle of Lisburn, on the site of the old castle beside Castle Street and the market square, with the Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum next door. Use the Lisburn city-centre car parks and walk in — it is a city-centre garden, not a drive-to country park.

Official website Directions on Google Maps See it on our map

Phone: 028 9266 3377

Nearby

Make more of the day

Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn MuseumFree museum right beside the gardens Wallace ParkLisburn's big Victorian park, ten minutes away The Lagan TowpathThe riverside path from Lisburn towards Belfast Hilden BreweryIreland's oldest independent brewery, on the edge of town

The story

About the gardens

The Conway family were the landlords of Lisburn, and in the seventeenth century they built a fortified manor house on this high ground above the Lagan. The garden around it was laid out to match — terraces cut into the slope, a ceremonial staircase to climb, a gateway to arrive through. Work began under the Conways and was pushed on substantially from the 1650s by George Rawdon, their agent in Ireland, who did a great deal to make Lisburn the town it became.

The house did not last. The garden did, which is the reversal that makes this place worth the walk: the ornamental frame outlived the building it was built to frame. The red sandstone gateway of 1677 and the double-flight perron are the surviving bones of the castle, standing in a garden that no longer has a house to lead to.

The estate passed down the generations to Sir Richard Wallace — of the Wallace Collection and the Wallace fountains — and after his death, and then Lady Wallace's, her heir Sir John Murray Scott gave the gardens to the people of Lisburn in 1903. That is why they are free and why they are in the middle of the city rather than behind a gate.

The twentieth century added its own layer, including an air raid shelter, later converted into an education space. And in June 2008 the seventeenth-century terraces and the nineteenth-century upper gardens were properly restored together with Heritage Lottery Fund support.

There is a lot of history packed into a small, quiet, well-kept garden in the middle of a working city — and a free museum on the same square to explain the rest of it. Give it an hour.