Voted Northern Ireland’s best view, Castle Espie Wetland Centre is also the best place to see the 35,000 light bellied brent geese that make their heroic journey from Canada to Strangford Lough each winter. And with a three year renovation to restore the local habitat to its former glory, encourage greater numbers of birds to visit, and reconnect Castle Espie and Strangford Lough to their rich history almost complete, there hasn’t been a better time to visit this magical wildlife reserve.
But Castle Espie offers much more than just wildlife, there is also an incredible archaeological history just waiting to be discovered, much of which was unearthed during the recent renovation. This includes: piles of oyster shells left by Mesolithic hunter gatherers over 9,000 years ago; a towering lime kiln that transformed Castle Espie’s unique red and pink limestone into the famous Castle Espie bricks used to build much of the surrounding area; and four different species of nautiloid, distant cousins of the modern giant squid that grew up to 3m long and left a permanent impression in Castle Espie’s layers of limestone as long cone-shaped, fossilised shells.
