Some townlands are so good that they deserve two blog posts.  Mount Stewart, on the Ards Peninsula in County Down, has already featured today on my other blog “Distant Drumlin”.  You can see that post (and more photos of these cygnets) by clicking here.

According to the PLACENAMESNI website, this townland was originally called Templecronan or Templecrone, but was re-named when the Stewart family built their house there in the 18th century.  The present house was built around 1850, and is now owned by the National Trust.  The house re-opened to the public on 20 April 2015, after a three year restoration project.  You can read more about that project here.

In 1906 the townland boundary was changed to encompass the house and the whole demesne of 948 acres on the eastern shores of Strangford Lough.  I haven’t explored all of that, but I have walked far enough to find the Walled Garden and Dairy, where the National Trust are planning further restoration work.

We can expect a successful restoration if these photos from the formal gardens beside the house are any guide to the skill and hard work of the National Trust team.