Castle Espie is a

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

reserve managed by the

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is an international wildfowl and wetland conservation charity in the United Kingdom. History The trust was founded in 1946 by the ornithologist and artist Sir Peter Scott as the Severn Wildfowl Trust. ...

(WWT) on the banks of

Strangford Lough Strangford Lough () is a large sea lough or inlet in County Down, in the east of Northern Ireland. It is the largest inlet in Ireland and the wider British Isles, covering . The lough is almost fully enclosed by the Ards Peninsula and is linke ...

, three miles south of

Comber Comber ( , , locally ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies south of Newtownards, at the northern end of Strangford Lough. It is situated in the townland of Town Parks, the civil parish of Comber and the historic barony of Cas ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, in the

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

of the same name. It is part of the Strangford Lough

Ramsar Site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

pale-bellied brent geese. The Castle which gave the reserve its name no longer exists.

Features

It has the largest collection of ducks, geese and swans in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. In addition to the reserve, the site contains The Kingfisher Kitchen, gift and book shop, The Graffan Gallery, exhibition areas, hides, woodland walks, sensory garden, events and activities, free parking, a picnic area and a reconstruction of a

Crannog A crannog (; ; ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually constructed in lakes, bogs and estuary, estuarine waters of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were built ...

, an ancient type of dwelling found in Scotland and Ireland from the European Neolithic Period to the early 18th century. The Visitor Centre features award-winning sustainable design including rain water harvesting, natural reed bed filtration systems for waste water, solar power and provides sweeping vistas of the northern shore of Strangford lough from the Kingfisher kitchen.

History

There is archaeological evidence from the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

period at the site. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,

lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...

was quarried at the site, and processed in

Hoffmann kiln The Hoffmann kiln is a series of batch process kilns. Hoffmann kilns are the most common kiln used in production of bricks and some other ceramic products. Patented by German Friedrich Hoffmann for brickmaking in 1858, it was later used for lim ...

s. In the nineteenth century, there were also brickworks on the site. The site has been managed by WWT since 1990.

''Springwatch,'' ''Autumnwatch and Winterwatch''

In 2021 Castle Espie was used as a filming location for the BBC wildlife series

Springwatch ''Springwatch'', ''Autumnwatch'' until 2022 and ''Winterwatch'', sometimes known collectively as ''The Watches'', are annual BBC television series which chart the fortunes of British wildlife during the changing of the seasons in the United Kin ...

and ''

Autumnwatch ''Springwatch'', ''Autumnwatch'' until 2022 and ''Winterwatch'', sometimes known collectively as ''The Watches'', are annual BBC television series which chart the fortunes of British wildlife during the changing of the seasons in the United Kin ...

'' presented by

Gillian Burke Gillian Burke (born ) is a natural history television programme presenter, producer and voiceover artist. She is best known for co-presenting BBC nature series ''Springwatch'' and its spin-offs since 2017. Career Burke studied biology at Brist ...

and in January 2022 ''

Winterwatch ''Springwatch'', ''Autumnwatch'' until 2022 and ''Winterwatch'', sometimes known collectively as ''The Watches'', are annual BBC television series which chart the fortunes of British wildlife during the changing of the seasons in the United Kin ...

'' presented by

Megan McCubbin Megan McCubbin (born 8 February 1995) is an English zoologist, conservationist, photographer and television presenter. Biography McCubbin was born on 8 February 1995; her mother is Jo McCubbin, a nurse. When Megan was two years old, her mot ...

Townland

Castle Espie () is also a

of 255 acres in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Tullynakill Tullynakill () is a civil parish and townland (of 317 acres) in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Castlereagh Lower. History The name Tullynakill appears in the 1615 Terrier of church property and on the Rave ...

and the historic

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Castlereagh Lower Castlereagh Lower (named after the former barony of Castlereagh) is a historic barony in County Down, Northern Ireland. It was created by 1841 with the division of Castlereagh into two. The barony roughly matches the former Gaelic territory of '' ...

References

External links

* {{coord, 54.52935, -5.69810, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Nature centres in Northern Ireland Special Protection Areas in Northern Ireland Tourist attractions in County Down Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust centres Protected areas of County Down Townlands of County Down Civil parish of Tullynakill