Part of the Great Wars Trail and Columban Way Heritage Trail
Clandeboye Carriageway forms part of the Columban Way, a heritage trail between Comber and Bangor covering 20 miles (32 km); a trail to experience the area’s rich and diverse history, Bronze Age relics, monastic settlements, Viking attacks, industrial heritage and military influences in both the First and Second World Wars. These are just some points of interest you will discover along the way.
Helen's Tower, Dufferin and Ava
The Blackwood Family arrived in Bangor when John Blackwood, a Scottish settler, came in the 17th Century. In 1674, his son, also called John, settled on the Clandeboye estate, then known as Ballyleidy and by the early 1800s they had become the Barons of ‘Dufferin and Claneboye’. The most distinguished member of the family was the Victorian diplomat Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood (1826-1902) who, in acknowledgment of his illustrious career, was created 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava in 1888.
Lord Dufferin, who started out as an explorer and author, became one of the most successful diplomats of the Victorian age holding all of the major diplomatic appointments of the day such as being Governor General of Canada, Ambassador to France, Russia and Italy and Viceroy of India. Despite his many travels he always loved Clandeboye and developed and landscaped the Estate extensively into what exists today. He also developed the nearby village of Helen’s Bay (named after his mother) and was instrumental in the founding of the Bangor to Belfast Railway.
Find out more about the Columban Way Heritage Trail.
Find out more about Clandeboye Estate and Courtyard and Helen's Bay.
