Scrabo Tower

Scrabo Tower is located to the west of Newtownards in County Down, Northern Ireland.

The landmark, which is visible from most of North Down, was built on a volcanic plug [ [http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/scrabo.shtml Environment & Heritage Service page on the tower.] ] above the town in 1857 as a memorial to Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry who was one of the Duke of Wellington's Generals during the Napoleonic Wars. The Third Marquis, or "Warring Charlie" as he was also known, inherited the title and family seat of Mount Stewart after his brother, The Second Marquis, committed suicide. The Second Marquis is better known as Viscount Castlereagh who served a term as Britain's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

The Tower now stands tall in the Country park with its woodland walks and parkland through Killynether Wood. The view from the hill and the summit of the tower are breathtaking, across Strangford Lough, scattered with its many islands, to the Mountains of Mourne and the Scottish coast. The Tower houses two floors of displays and a climb of 122 steps takes the visitor to the open viewing level. Scrabo Country Park is always open, admission to the park and the tower is free.

Scrabo Golf Club is looked down on by Scrabo Tower and the tower overlooks most of the course.

Cultural References

Scrabo Tower was the inspiration for 'the Tower of Trufandom' in The Enchanted Duplicator [Willis, Walt and Shaw, Bob, 'The Enchanted Duplicator'. [http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/SF-Archives/Misc/ted.html] , Accessed April 26, 2008.] by Walt Willis and Bob Shaw. [Nielsen Hayden, Patrick and Teresa, 'Aspects and Inclinations', Hyphen 37. [http://www.efanzines.com/Hyphen/Hyphen37/index.htm] , Accessed May 1, 2008.]

References