Politics and Pleasure By Mark Lutyens
Meeting the needs of visitors whilst respecting the site as a royal residence made the redesign of Hillsborough Castle’s grounds a fascinating challenge.
H
illsborough Castle may sound defensive – all turrets and curtain walls – but it is in fact a comfortable, mainly 18th-century, golden-stone Georgian mansion in the town of Hillsborough, County Down. At 15 miles (25km) or so due south from Belfast, it is relatively close to the capital but set in rolling farm land. The only royal palace in Ireland, Hillsborough is where the British royal family and 6
dignitaries stay when visiting the province, and where the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is based. Many have loved it, not least Mo Mowlem, Secretary of State from 1997 to 1999, and the driving force behind the Good Friday Agreement. Mowlem’s ashes are scattered here. Hillsborough is living history. The castle’s north and east fronts face the town’s central HISTORIC GARDENS Review
Issue 37
