Vandals target historic Kilwaughter Castle

Gates have been forced open at Kilwaughter Castle.

Members of the public are being urged to stay away from Kilwaughter Castle, Larne, during the current lockdown.

The advice was issued after recent vandalism at the Deerpark Road site which is private property and not available to the public except on open days.

Speaking to this newspaper, Ryan Greer, property manager at Kilwaughter, detailed how anti-social behaviour has been taking place in the castle’s grounds over recent weeks.

Mr Greer said: “Kilwaughter Castle is not open during lockdown, but we have had people forcing gates open and coming onto the grounds. There has been illegal dumping taking place and a number of fires have been lit.

Beer bottles have been discarded at the castle.

“Dumping has always been a problem for the castle, but it has got significantly worse since lockdown started with burning plastics, tyres, dumping barbed wire and drinks bottles both inside the castle and around it.

“Work had been ongoing over the last year to clean up the grounds and it is very disheartening to see fly-tipping taking place.

“We met officers from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) on site on May 18. They’ve been really helpful, and will be taking the necessary steps to secure the castle property.”

He added: “On May 26 we discovered the front gate had been broken open and tyres, beer bottles and other waste had been dumped around the castle. It’s incredibly frustrating as we are trying to improve the condition of the property so the public can visit on designated open days. The castle is strictly private property and absolutely no unauthorised access is permitted.”

A number of tyres have been dumped at the Deerpark Road site.

“The oldest parts of the castle are 400 years old, with the remainder built in 1806-1808 to the designs of John Nash for the Agnew family. Nash later went on to build Buckingham Palace and Regent Street.

“We had over 600 people visit the castle and local village hall for European Heritage Day in September 2019 and we were really encouraged by how supportive people were.

“Due to social distancing, we will be closed for the foreseeable. People have to be kept safe. We are looking forward to welcoming people back to an open day at Kilwaughter when it is safe to do so.”