South Watch Tower, Roe Green, Roe Valley Country Park, Largy, Limavady, Co Londonderry is a Grade B2 listed building in the Causeway Coast and Glens local planning authority area, Northern Ireland. First listed on 13 March 2002.

South Watch Tower, Roe Green, Roe Valley Country Park, Largy, Limavady, Co Londonderry

WRENN ID
deep-loft-briar
Grade
B2
Local Planning Authority
Causeway Coast and Glens
Constituency
East Londonderry MP: Mr Gregory Campbell (DUP)
Country
Northern Ireland
Date first listed
13 March 2002
Irish grid reference
C 682 198
Coordinates
55.02098, -6.93314
Source
NI Environment Agency listing

Also on this page: radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The South Watch Tower is a small, stone-built watch tower dating from between 1760 and 1779. It is located at Roe Green, within Roe Valley Country Park, near Limavady, County Londonderry. The tower is a rare surviving feature associated with the linen industry and of group value, contributing to the historical landscape.

The tower stands at the south-east edge of the former Roe, or Dogleap, bleach green, situated within a thicket of trees. It is approximately two metres in diameter and 2.2 metres high to the roof edge. The roof is formed from sharply edged stones corbelled to create a flattened, segmental dome. The walls are constructed from larger, smooth-edged stones, likely sourced from the River Roe. The tower’s size only accommodates a single person. A 500mm-wide entrance slot is found on the south-west side, with small 300mm square openings positioned on the sides, one facing north-west onto the bleach green and the other facing south-east into the surrounding woodland. The tower is partly overgrown.

This tower, along with a second tower to the north (reference HB02/03/014A), were built to supervise the linen laid out on the green, protecting it from straying animals and theft. It was first indicated on the Ordnance Survey Map of 1831, and is part of the structures associated with the adjacent bleach green, established in 1766 by Lesley Alexander and closed in 1831. Unlike the other watch tower, this building appears to be original and has not been renovated. Historically, the bleach green was crossed by two millraces, a feature obscured by later landscaping. Roads shown on the 1830 and 1848 Ordnance Survey maps passed close to the tower, leading towards the mill buildings (reference HB02/03/013). The tower is a vernacular structure of industrial archaeological interest.

Local climate

South Watch Tower, Roe Green, Roe Valley Country Park, Largy, Limavady, Co Londonderry sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,140 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 89% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 77% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 17 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 84% of listed buildings. Of these, 11 follow 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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Nearby listed buildings

  1. North Watch Tower, Roe Green, Roe Valley Country Park, Largy, Limavady, Co Londonderry 154 m
  2. Mill Buildings, Largy Townland, Limavady, Co Londonderry 236 m
  3. Former Wash Mill, Adjacent Roe Valley County Park, Largy, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 243 m
  4. ‘Beetling Mill’, Roe Valley Country Park, Largy, Limavady, Co Londonderry 487 m
  5. Weaving Shed Museum, Roe Valley Country Park, Dogleap Road, Largy, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 9NN Grade B2 519 m
  6. Dogleap Powerhouse, Roe Valley Country Park, 43 Dogleap Road, Largy, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 9NN Grade B+ 598 m
  7. Brochan House, Dogleap, Roe Valley Country Park, Limavady, Co Londonderry 617 m
  8. Largy Bridge, Dogleap Road, Ballykelly, Co Londonderry, BT49 9NN Grade B2 619 m
  9. Hydraulic Ram, Largy Bridge, Roe Valley County Park, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 9EY 622 m
  10. Corn Store, Roe Valley Country Park, Largy Bridge, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 9EY 630 m