Portaferry Castle

Prominently sited on the slope overlooking Portaferry harbour, within sight of Strangford and Audley’s Castles across the water, this is a 15th- or 16th-century tower-house, built by the Savage family. Simpler than the earlier ‘gatehouse’ type, it is square in plan with one projecting tower to the south. Here a small machicolation arch defends the door. There are three storeys and an attic, and the projecting tower rises higher than the rest of the building containing both stairs and latrines. Like early tower-houses it has spiral stairs, but like some later ones it lacks a stone vault, all the floors being originally of wood. The east angle is ruined and the castle is a shell, visible only from outside.

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