Page 1 of 4
   |
|
The town flourished during the sixteenth century under the guidance of Colonel Hugh Boyd who brought economic prosperity to the area by investing in the local natural resources. He developed coal mines, a tan yard, brewery, salt works and glass works. The latter produced bottles, window and plate glass and was situated on Glass Island - between the harbour and the Margie river.
A pier and safe anchorage was also built here (where the tennis courts are now situated) in 1748. Framed together with oak piles, the harbour was said to have been one of the strongest and best finished in the north. Ironically, four years later in 1752, Colonel Boyd had to petition the House of Commons for funds to repair the harbour after the piles had been attacked and weakened by insects and damaged by three hurricane force storms. Eventually in 1763, after much lobbying he was reimbursed for his own work in replacing the damaged piles with cut stone. Hugh Boyd died in , he was described as typifying a good landlord and employer - it is worth noting that during the famine period when many of the wealthy had fled to their comforts abroad, Hugh Boyd imported corn, oatmeal and flour to combat the starvation. He is interred in the Holy Trinity Church in the diamond which he built in 1756 using locally quarried sandstone. Beside the church were the ruins of a castle built in 1609 by the Earl of Antrim. |