A little further uphill is Ferryquay Gate. Famous as the gate closed by the Apprentice Boys to King James' forces in 1688 triggering the Great Siege. The current gate was rebuilt and widened in 1866.
0 Comments
Back to the City Walls. Re-join on Richmond Street between the St Columb's Hall, an Italianate temperance hall dating from 1888 and the Millennium Forum. This is the only breach in the Walls, The road was raised to go over the top of the monument in the mid Nineteenth Century to facilitate a covered market where Primark is located today.
A little further up the street number 6 and 8 date from 1760. They have fine door cases. The steep slope of the street allows a carriage arch at basement level on number 8.
The former Custom House on Shipquay Street, one of the finest pieces of Georgian architecture in the city, dates from 1741. It has been recently conserved and will reopen next week as a textile centre of excellence.
Shipquay Street rises from the gate to the square 'Diamond' at the centre of the city's plan. It is lined by shops and former banks.
Shipquay Gate at the bottom of the Walls, is the main entrance to the city from the river. Originally called Watergate for this reason, it was rebuilt between 1805 and 1808 to the form it has today.
Now, onto the Walls. These were constructed between 1614 and 1618 and, apart from the gates, have not changed much in the interim. This is a copy of a plan made in 1625 and shows the ‘ideal’ street plan layout inside which also largely survives.
Outside is Shipquay Place . Some of the cannon on this section of the City Walls date pre date the monument. Before you visit, however, go through the gate to the Tower Museum. This houses a very good exhibition on the city and on the Spanish Armada. The building dates from 1986 and is a loose recreation of a tower constructed in the 1450’s by the O’Doherty’s for the O’Donnell’s.
Now, back into town, to the Guildhall. Rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1912, its rich carvings and stained glass tell the story of the city. Look high on the front façade and see the Arms of the city on one side,- a skeleton with a tower, representing Derry, under the Arms of the City of London,- and on the other side, and parallel, see the Arms of' the Honourable the Irish Society' who were responsible for rebuilding the settlement in the Plantation of Ulster (early Seventeenth Century). They were also the source of funds for the 1912 rebuilding of the Guildhall.
The origin of the skeleton and tower is not known, but some have suggested a link to the Norman castle of Northburg up river. More about this later. The Guildhall was also blown up in 1972 during the Troubles. It was painstakingly restored between 1975 and '78 because of its artistic and cultural importance. If you stand on the stone battlements of Grianan, you can just about make out the earthen banks of the earliest fort on the site. These date from the Iron Age.
|
Marks of Time
Sketches of buildings in the North West of Ireland and further afield with a little information about their history. Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|