© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
The Abbacy Manor House and Bawn is a post-medieval fortified residence located in the Ards Peninsula, County Down. The site comprises a manor house protected by a defensive bawn wall, a fortification type characteristic of early modern Ulster where English settlers and established landowners strengthened their properties against local resistance. The house stands on bedrock of Gala Group wacke, a hard sedimentary stone formed during the Telychian period of the Ordovician, which would have provided solid foundations for construction and quarrying opportunities for building materials.
The bawn—a high stone-built enclosure surrounding the house—represents a practical response to the uncertain conditions of sixteenth and seventeenth-century plantation Ulster, offering protection for livestock and personnel whilst allowing continued agricultural and administrative functions. Such fortified manors were common among Anglo-Norman and English settlers establishing control over Irish lands, particularly following the Elizabethan plantations.
The site is protected as a scheduled monument under Historic Environment Division reference 7262, reflecting its significance as a physical record of early modern settlement patterns and English colonial architecture in Ireland. The Abbacy survives as evidence of the social and military tensions that shaped the landscape and settlement geography of the Ards during this transformative period.
The abbacy. manor house & bawn is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 7262. View the official record →
The Abbacy Manor House and Bawn is a post-medieval fortified residence located in the Ards Peninsula, County Down. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 7262.
The abbacy. manor house & bawn dates from the post-med period, and is classified as a manor house. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
The abbacy. manor house & bawn is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 7262.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Tara fort. bivallate rath (7.3 km), Cup-&-ring-marked stone (7.3 km), Navigation pillar (7.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of The abbacy. manor house & bawn's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
The abbacy. manor house & bawn stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.