View source for Castle Espie

{{Short description|Wetland reserve in Northern Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Castle Espie
| image      = The_ornamental_duck_pool_at_Castle_Espie_2013-10-31_22-14.jpg
| caption    = The ornamental duck pool at Castle Espie
| type       = Conservational charity |
| location   = WWT Castle Espie,<br/>78 Ballydrain Road,<br/>Comber,<br/>County Down<br/>BT23 6EA
| foundation = 
| homepage   = {{url|wwt.org.uk}}
}}
[[File:Crannog.tif|thumb|Crannog at Castle Espie]]
'''Castle Espie''' is a [[wetland]] reserve managed by the [[Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust]] (WWT) on the banks of [[Strangford Lough]], three miles south of [[Comber]], [[County Down]], [[Northern Ireland]], in the [[townland]] of the same name. It is part of the Strangford Lough [[Ramsar Site]]. It provides an early wintering site for almost the entire Nearctic population of [[pale-bellied brent goose|pale-bellied brent geese]].<ref name="WW">{{cite web | title=Castle Espie | work=Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust | url=http://www.wwt.org.uk/gallery/118/visit/castleespie/.html | accessdate=2008-12-22 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121040943/http://www.wwt.org.uk/gallery/118/visit/castleespie/.html | archivedate=21 November 2008 }}</ref> The Castle which gave the reserve its name no longer exists.

==Features==
[[File:View from raven suite.jpg|thumb|View from visitor centre]]
It has the largest collection of ducks, geese and swans in [[Ireland]]. In addition to the reserve, the site contains The Kingfisher Kitchen, gift and book shop, The Graffan Gallery, exhibition areas, [[Bird hide|hides]], woodland walks, sensory garden, events and activities, free parking, a picnic area<ref name="WW" /> and a reconstruction of a [[Crannog]], an ancient type of dwelling found in Scotland and Ireland from the [[Neolithic#Europe|European Neolithic Period]] to the early 18th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Geograph:: Crannóg, Castle Espie © Rossographer |url=https://www.geograph.ie/photo/1937101 |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=geograph.ie |language=en}}</ref> The Visitor Centre features award-winning sustainable design including rain water harvesting, natural reed bed filtration systems for waste water, solar power and provides sweeping vistas of the northern shore of Strangford lough from the Kingfisher kitchen.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-19 |title=Sustainability |url=https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/castle-espie/experience/sustainability-at-castle-espie |access-date=2022-10-08 |website=WWT |language=en}}</ref>

==History==

There is archaeological evidence from the [[Mesolithic]] period at the site.<ref name="Welsh Welsh 2018 p. 69">{{cite book | last1=Welsh | first1=H. | last2=Welsh | first2=J. | title=Sites of Prehistoric Life in Northern Ireland | publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Limited | year=2018 | isbn=978-1-78491-794-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hrETEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA69 | access-date=7 October 2022 | page=69}}</ref>

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, [[Lime (material)|lime]] was quarried at the site, and processed in [[Hoffmann kiln]]s.<ref name="Murray Logue 2010 p. ">{{cite book | last1=Murray | first1=E. | last2=Logue | first2=P. | title=Battles, Boats & Bones: Archaeological Discoveries in Northern Ireland, 1987-2008 | publisher=TSO Ireland | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-337-09592-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eYW86gYa7eYC | access-date=7 October 2022 }}</ref><ref name="Belfast Naturalists Field Club 1874 p. 33">{{cite book | author=Belfast Naturalists' Field Club | title=Guide to Belfast and the adjacent counties | publisher=Marcus Ward | year=1874 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KBcHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA33 | access-date=7 October 2022 | page=33}}</ref> In the nineteenth century, there were also brickworks on the site.<ref name="Jewitt 1878 p. 486">{{cite book | last=Jewitt | first=L.F.W. | title=The History of Ceramic Art in Great Britain: From Pre-historic Times Down Through Each Successive Period to the Present Day ... | publisher=Scribner, Welford, and Armstrong | series=The History of Ceramic Art in Great Britain: From Pre-historic Times Down Through Each Successive Period to the Present Day | year=1878 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HNtKAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA486 | access-date=7 October 2022 | page=486}}</ref>

The site has been managed by WWT since 1990.<ref name="Poots">{{cite web |title=Poots marks 30th anniversary of Castle Espie |url=https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/news/poots-marks-30th-anniversary-castle-espie |website=The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs |publisher=Gov.UK |access-date=7 October 2022 |date=12 November 2020}}</ref>

==''Springwatch,'' ''Autumnwatch and Winterwatch''==

In 2021 Castle Espie was used as a filming location for the BBC wildlife series [[Springwatch]] and ''[[Autumnwatch]]'' presented by [[Gillian Burke]] and in January 2022 ''[[Springwatch|Winterwatch]]'' presented by [[Megan McCubbin]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1444566/Springwatch-Why-Chris-Packham-not-presenting-Springwatch-BBC-video|title=Springwatch: Why isn't Chris Packham presenting Springwatch?|first=Emma|last=Tinson|date=2 June 2021|website=Daily Express}}</ref><ref name="DR_2021">{{cite news |title=Castle Espie receives plaudit |url=http://www.thedownrecorder.co.uk/pages/index.asp?title=Castle_Espie_receives_plaudit |access-date=7 October 2022 |work=Down Recorder |date=3 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Winterwatch TV show airs live from Castle Espie |url=http://www.thedownrecorder.co.uk/pages/?title=BBC_Winterwatch_TV_show_airs_live_from_Castle_Espie |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=thedownrecorder.co.uk}}</ref>

==Townland==
Castle Espie ({{Irish derived place name|Caistéal an Easpaig|castle of the bishop}})<ref>{{cite web|title=Castle Espie|url=http://www.placenamesni.org/resultdetails.php?entry=12078|website=Place Names NI|accessdate=19 May 2015}}</ref> is also a [[townland]] of 255 acres in the [[Civil parishes in Ireland|civil parish]] of [[Tullynakill]] and the historic [[Barony (Ireland)|barony]] of [[Castlereagh Lower]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Castle Espie|url=http://www.thecore.com/seanruad/|website=IreAtlas Townlands Database|accessdate=19 May 2015}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{official}}
{{Wetlands}}
{{Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coord|54.52935|-5.69810|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}}

[[Category:Nature centres in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Special Protection Areas in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in County Down]]
[[Category:Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust centres]]
[[Category:Protected areas of County Down]]
[[Category:Townlands of County Down]]
[[Category:Civil parish of Tullynakill]]