hillsborough fort

A fine artillery fort, 270 feet square and with spear-shaped bastions at the corners, was built here by Colonel Arthur Hill around 1650 to command the road from Dublin to Belfast and Carrickfergus. It stands on the site of an Early Christian period rath, the circular ditch of which has been left open in the central grassed area of the fort. In the min 18th century, the Hill family transformed the north-western gatehouse entrance into a two-storey 'gothick' fort or castle for the entertainment of their friends, and the entrance was transferred to the centre of the north-east wall which was also refurbished as a 'gothick' gazebo. Nearby is the fine 17th century parish church of the Hills, heavily gothicised in the 1760s.