Our property is on the South Promenade at Newcastle Harbour: The harbour is among the most richly historic areas of Newcastle. Home to many longstanding families, the area around the pier has a long association with the sea.

The origins of the current harbour date back to the 1820's, when a new pier was created by Lord Annesley to replace the old one. One of the chief functions of the pier was to act as a loading point for Mourne granite, which was quarried in the hills above the harbour.

If you stand on the shorter arm of the pier and look up towards the mountain you can see a path cut through the trees leading to the now defunct quarry on Millstone Mountain.

In the last century, stone was quarried here and dispatched down this track to the harbour by railtrucks. It was loaded on to ships (known as Stone Boats) and used to build docks in Belfast and Liverpool and the courthouse gaol in nearby Downpatrick.