Bushmills Heritage Trail
On our second day in Bushmills we had a distillery visit booked in the afternoon. In the morning, we visited the tourist office to pick up a copy of the local heritage trail so that we could explore more of the village. The settlement has a long history, perhaps as far back as the 12th century, and these days is a Conservation Village and the “Gateway to the Causeway Coast”. It is also very loyalist as you can possibly tell from my header image – I’ll come back to that later.
In the centre of the village is the War Memorial, Clock Tower, and Market Square. The old Court House (1834) is currently undergoing renovation; the old school building (1842), subsequently used as a hall by the Royal British Legion, seems to be going to seed despite efforts by the Bushmills Trust.
Walking down Main Street we passed two attractive pubs. Had we not been so well fed at the Bushmills Inn, we might have tried these!
Crossing the river on Bridge Street we could see old mill buildings, now private homes. At one time Bushmills had seven working mills.
The Old Grammar School was commissioned in 1927 by the Macnaghten family, who built much of present day Bushmills, and was designed by Clough Williams-Ellis of Portmeirion fame. It has a distinctive bell tower common, according to the trail leaflet, in Cornish and American schoolhouses.
Walking alongside the river we came to the Smiling Cow, a collaborative idea from young people in Bushmills and Catalonia. It was sculpted by Metal Imagineers in 2013.
Crossing back over the river on a different bridge, we admired the housing on both sides. A nice place to stay.
Near our hotel were two statues / sculptures: one a memorial to Robert Quigg (1885-1955) who was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery at the Somme, the other, Alphabet Angel, a 2004 sculpture by Ross Wilson representing the local tongue of Ulster-Scots.
Opposite our hotel was the Dundarave Estate (home to the Alphabet Angel) where there were various artworks referring to Octavia Hill (1838-1912) who, amongst other achievements, was a co-founder of the National Trust. I was puzzled as to what her connection to Bushmills could be, but a quick Google told me that there was none. It seems that she was chosen for this community project for her role in pioneering the development and management of social housing. The gable end does seem to be in need of a little touching up!
The estate itself is clearly a strong Loyalist and Unionist area with red, white and blue kerbstones and paramilitary wall art on some of the houses.
As I said at the beginning, the village as a whole seems very loyalist as further evidenced by posters on lampposts. I offer these without comment, except to say that I am quite sceptical about the idea that the police are in the pocket of Sinn Fein.
On a lighter note, to end with I’ll take you back to the Bushmills Inn and a couple of quirky things that didn’t make it into my original post about it. All the rooms were named after whiskies – I can’t remember what ours was, but I wished it had been this one, Mitchell being my family name. And I did love the retired racehorse in one of the lounges.
After Bushmills, we set off for Derry. More about that next time.
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
loving all these pictures..love the large stream/river and love the old buildings. I’m certain they will get to the school when they get more money.the cow is great but I’m so.glad about the tributes to the men who are true heroes. No matter where one goes, you can’t escape politics.
LikeLike
I hope they find more money to restore the rest of the old buildings. It would be a shame to lose them.
LikeLike
Lovely village…nice heritage walk and nice pics (Suzanne)
LikeLike
Thanks, we enjoyed it!
LikeLike
It’s cool that Octavia Hill was chosen as a work of art. Looks like an interesting place to spend a few days.
LikeLike
Yes, it was. Octavia Hill was a puzzle to start with until I looked her up. I liked the benches with quotes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This seems to be a community that truly has a bit of everything. A good place to stay, by the look of it.
LikeLike
It was lovely. At least another day might have been good, but so many other places to visit!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice village. One thing I noticed over there 5 years ago was how busy and how many pubs they had compared to Scotland where loads have shut but apparently the cost of living is now finally hitting them as well. No surprise because just running a car now costs a fortune with garage bills and insurance doubling. Looked at a replacement camera today and that’s almost doubled as well in just 3 years since I bought the last one. £600 now so I walked back out in disgust. Over £100 for an SD card that used to cost £20. Bob. BSS
LikeLike
Ouch, that’s a steep rise! I suppose supply and demand comes into it a bit as they probably don’t sell so much non-digital stuff now.
LikeLike
Anywhere looks better in weather like that. I thought that the smiling cow was very good value.
LikeLike
We were extremely lucky with the weather that weekend, considering how wet and cold it had been in Belfast just beforehand.
LikeLike
You have got to win sometimes if you travel a lot.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Looks like a pretty town. Liked the Grammar School. Can’t say I have ever tasted the town’s product though.
LikeLike
We enjoyed our tasting at the distillery but didn’t buy any. We already have a bottle – unopened – and can’t remember where it came from!
LikeLike
Such an interesting town with all that history. Great photos.
LikeLike
It was lovely, thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a pretty village! I love the smiling cow… so much happier than sculptures of men with guns.
LikeLike
Much happier! Still too much of the latter.
LikeLike
Interesting…especially the Loyalist notices.
LikeLike
Yes, those were intriguing to say the least.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the looks of this town. And the Smiling Cow is a big asset. That’s a very cool sculpture.
LikeLike
You’ve just made a Scottish joke! It’s a very COO-l sculpture 🐄🐮😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
What beautiful blue skies you had too.
LikeLike
We did – the whole weekend in Bushmills was glorious. The best weather in the whole trip.
LikeLike
What an attractive village, Anabel!
LikeLike
Very pretty for the most part!
LikeLiked by 1 person
An interesting place to stay Anabel. And you matched Becky today with the sculpture.
LikeLike
Oh, thanks for the tip, I’ve not read any blogs today yet. Must check out Becky’s sculpture!
LikeLiked by 1 person
During a break in Northern Ireland a few years ago – before Covid – we drove through Bushmills on the way from the ferry to the Giants Causeway. The thing that’s stuck in my memory is the mass of Union Jacks hanging in the streets.
LikeLike
Not in evidence this time – maybe they have been replaced by the lamppost notices!
LikeLike
Thanks so much for pointing us to Octavia Hill’s touching and inspiring quotations, Anabel.
LikeLike
I learned a lot more about her by looking up this project.
LikeLike
The old mills and houses by the river look very attractive, and I love the retired racehorse!
LikeLike
It is definitely an attractive village. The retired racehorse was amusing, though I guess those small enough to sit on him comfortably can’t read the notice! Hopefully their parents can.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A nice place to stay, Anabel. 🤗💙
LikeLike
It was, we had a good time there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The name Bushmills reminds me of a place we visited in South Africa several years ago, the name of it escapes me just now but it was very similar to Bushmills. This seems a very interesting village, I like the Smiling Cow and the Retired Racehorse, and those curved benches look lovely 🙂
LikeLike
The Retired Racehorse tickled me pink! The Smiling Cow was good too.
LikeLike
What a pretty village, and very well preserved. Interesting history too.
LikeLike
Yes, very pretty and those parts which have been preserved are lovely. I’m wondering if the local trust has run out of money for some of the other buildings. Must be a big undetaking!
LikeLiked by 1 person