Articlave and Castlerock

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The name Castlerock derives from a black basalt outcrop close to the shore, the area around here has been habitated since the first hunter gathers made their way up the river Bann and settled at Mount Sandal some 9000 years ago. Evidence of mesolithic and bronze age settlements have been found in the dune systems on either side of the Barmouth. This area today is a wonderful wildlife reserve which sees thousands of migratory birds stopping off during the season.

Up until the advent of the railway Castlerock was little more than a small collection of houses scattered close to the shore. During the Plantation of Ulster the Clothworkers Company acquired land that stretched from Coleraine to Londonderry. The company founded the village of Articlave in 1613 which was one of the first settlements on the estate, two hundred years before Castlerock would emerge as a village.

In 1853 the railway line finally opened between Londonderry and Coleraine, it was owned and run by the Coleraine and Londonderry Railway Company. A major engineering achievement was the creation of two tunnels cut through two headlands which takes the line from Castlerock to Downhill. With the opening of the railway Castlerock developed as a seaside resort, partly due to a scheme which offered free first class rail travel to anyone who would build a villa here.

The Coleraine and Londonderry Railway Company were eventually bought over by the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway Company in 1871. Today the railway journey is highly regarded as one of the best in Europe as it hugs the coast and estuary to Londonderry.

The fabulous railway station designed by John Lanyon, the son of Charles Lanyon was built in 1874, Charles Lanyon had designed many iconic building such as Queens University and the Custom House in Belfast as well as the Glendun Viaduct.

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