Nendrum Castle, Mahee Island, Killinchy, Co Down, BT23 6EP is a Grade Record Only listed building in the Ards and North Down local planning authority area, Northern Ireland.
Nendrum Castle, Mahee Island, Killinchy, Co Down, BT23 6EP
- WRENN ID
- unlit-bonework-sable
- Grade
- Record Only
- Local Planning Authority
- Ards and North Down
- Constituency
- Strangford MP: Jim Shannon (DUP)
- Country
- Northern Ireland
- Address
- Nendrum Castle, Mahee Island, Killinchy, Co Down, BT23 6EP, BT23 6EP
- Irish grid reference
- J 523 639
- Coordinates
- 54.50106, -5.64856
- Source
- NI Environment Agency listing
Description
The ruins of a tower house, probably built around 1570, stand at the northern edge of Mahee Island, facing the causeway from Reagh Island, approximately 2.5 miles northeast of Killinchy. The remains are three storeys high, constructed from split stone rubble and boulders. The original plan was likely rectangular, with surviving walls measuring roughly 13 meters by 6.5 meters. Significant portions of the northeast wall are missing, with only a corner section remaining on the right side. Much of the southwest wall survives and contains six openings of varying sizes, featuring splayed reveals. There are two openings at ground floor level, three on the first floor, and one on the second floor to the left, which appears to have been a doorway. Above one of the first-floor openings are niches that once held the second floor joists. At ground level, remnants of two rooms with barrel vaulting are visible; the room to the southwest extends through a wide doorway on the southwest side, though the northeast end has collapsed. The first floor appears to have contained a single chamber, and the remains of the stairway are located in the southeast corner, rising through the thickness of the southeast wall.
The castle is thought to have been built around 1570 by Thomas Browne, an English soldier who leased Mahee Island from Bishop Merriman. In 1572, Captain Browne requested resources from Lord Burghley to cover the cost of construction on the island, reported to be 400 marks (£266-4-0). The structure is considered a monument.
Local climate
Nendrum Castle, Mahee Island, Killinchy, Co Down, BT23 6EP sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,130 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 88% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 94% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 1 freeze-thaw cycle a year, fewer than 99% of listed buildings. Of these, 1 follows at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- No flood data for this area
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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