Back to Clooney Road, City of Derry Airport is located beside the road on another former WWII airfield. This was RAF Eglinton air base home to No. 133 Squadron RAF from 1941 which flew Hurricane fighters. In 1943 the airfield became a Fleet Air Arm base called RNAS Eglinton and was home to the No. 1847 Fleet Air Arm Squadron  providing convoy cover as part of the Battle of the Atlantic. In 1978 the airfied was purchased by the district council and the current terminal was erected as part of a significant investment with European Regional Development support and opened in 1993. Designed by WRD and RT Taggart architects it is a bright welcoming building designed for ease of internal adaptability and extension. While significant extensions have not been required the subdivision of the internal space has undergone a number of changes during subsequent years. An open an airy interior has largely been retained however.

At the next roundabout turn right to what is sign posted as the ‘plantation village of Eglinton’.  This is dominated by its former courthouse, standing opposite the access road to the village which is now used as a credit union.  This was built in the 1820’s and held a petty sessions court on the first floor and a market space  among open arcades on the ground floor with a medical dispensary to the rear. The buildings real use, however,  was an important architectural set piece at the heart of the village signifying the taste and sophistication of the Grocer’s Company of London. Though they had been granted the surrounding area by King James I in the Seventeenth Century, as part of the Ulster Plantation, they had leased the land to agents until the lease came up again upon the death of George III in 1820. They, like many of the other London Companies with lands in the county,  then took direct control and a period of architectural competion ensued with direct investment in villages like Eglinton, Ballykelly, Draperstown, Moneymore, and Kilrea. As part of the plan, in this village, two complementary buildings were built on either side of this focus. The Manor House to the left remains in fine condition. The Glen House to the right has unfortunately been heavily renovated, following a period of use as a hotel, and has lost much of its character. The court house has been recently well conserved and is well worth a visit. On the wall to one side is the arms of the Grocer’s Company who gave up their involvement with the village following the land reforms of the 1890′s. 

Further along Clooney Road opposite the turn off to Campsie Industrial Estate is this unusual structure half embedded in the hillside. This is also a remnant of the Second World War. It is an operations room  for anit aircraft operational comand in the area. Built between 1941 and 1944 it is one of only two examples of this type of structure built in Northern Ireland. The other example was at Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn. it is actually two stories  high and contains a large double height operations room. The projection on the roof is a ventillator.              

 A mile from the village is what used to be known as Eglinton Airfield. Built during World War II to accommodate fighter planes providing cover for the North Atlantic convoys, it is now used as the City of Derry Airport. A few remnants of its former use survive however, such as this ‘Blister’ type aircraft hangar to the south of the airfield.

Centrepiece of the village is the former court house. Recently converted, to a high standard, into the local Credit Union. This had an open ground floor market space  behind arches when first built in the 1820’s. The building was an important part of the effort to improve the character of the village by the Grocer’s Company of London, who were the local landlords from the Plantation of 1613 to the 1880’s

Eglinton Manor House. Built as the residence for the local representative of the Grocer’s Company in the 1820’s. In the Georgian style, it complements the setting of the cut stone court house next door.

Eglinton Church dates from 1820. Built at the expense of the Grocer’s Company and designed by John Bowden of Dublin. The gable wall of its predecessor was retained in the adjoining graveyard

  Off to #Eglinton village. This is the police station. Neo Georgian, TFO Rippingham, Elegant, well proportioned