Mount Stewart House and Gardens is a National Trust property based in County Down, Northern Ireland. Mount Stewart house is a home that was owned by the 7th Marchioness Edith, Lady Londonderry and her family and it has been beautifully restored to its spender from that era ([ Ссылка ]).

Mount Stewart Gardens overlook Strangford Lough and has been voted as one of the top 10 gardens in the world! Mount Stewart is listed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage tentative list.
The garden areas consist of - The Sunk Garden, Shamrock Garden, The Italian Garden, The Spanish Garden and the Mairi Garden.

Old houses, castles, and buildings in general are our number one interest when it comes to visiting the historical locations and attractions of a city we are heading to. Newtownards is not a town that we are visiting for the first time - we are locals :-) - but we love to come and cherish the beauty of this building which is being taken care of by the National Trust.

This 19th-century house and garden reflect the history of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family through the contents it still carries - for those who don't know, this family played a great leading role in the British and Irish social and political life; it was the Marquesses of Londonderry.

Back in time, when the house was first bought by Alexander Stewart in 1744, it was known as Mount Pleasant and it is also believed that the money that this family had to buy the house came from the sales of linen at that time.

Through the history related to this house and the different members of the family who took over taking care of the house, there were some changes done to it all, such as the temporary wing that the son of Alexander added in 1800 when he became the first Marquess of Londonderry. Actually, what brought this house all the wealth it has gone through and gave it the chance to keep growing and changing to the better was the third Marquess, Charles, who married two times and who his second wife was mainly the reason since she was the greatest heiress of her time.

Mount Stewart is not just about the house, but it is also about the gardens which started small and then were enlarged by the help of the Marchioness who was responsible for the different gardens which were added as well as the fountain pool and the walks, she was also the one who decided to give the gardens to the National Trust in 1957.

The National Trust took over the gardens to take care of and it received the remaining of the place in 1977 and it now operates the property under the name of "Mount Stewart House, Gardens and Temple of the Winds".

We have walked through the whole place and we have to say that it always takes our breath away for the gardens that are there as well as seeing this old building - even if we didn't get the chance to enter it and see the interiors. What also attracted our attention to this place were the beautiful sculptures which are made in the shape of animals and which we believe are done in a different kind of way.

In addition to the place as a whole and the perfection of it, it is also situated on the east shore of Strangford Lough and this brings a beautiful view with those ducks swimming around - it could be a combination of a touristic visit and also getting some peace of mind by this magnificent view.

This is one of the most visited places which we will recommend when it comes to the town of Newtownards, but there are several other places which one could pass by and enjoy visiting and which include Kiltonga Wildlife Reserve which we have also been to before and which we definitely loved ([ Ссылка ]), there is also the Grey Abbey ([ Ссылка ]), another place is the Scrabo Tower in Newtownards which was built back in 1857 ([ Ссылка ]).

It is always interesting to get to know more about the place which you are heading to especially if it carries a great history behind that one should be well aware of, just like the case of the Mount Stewart which passed through different owners until it finally reached the point where the National Trust became the one responsible for it all and for taking care of it as well.

Mount Stewart in Newtownards, County Down, is very close to the Greyabbey (or Grey Abbey) so you could always choose to visit both locations during the same day and get the chance to see what they tend to bring to you from information and history.

Never been there? Go visit now! If you have already been to Mount Stewart before then we are waiting for your comments to tell us more about your experience and what you loved most about the place as a whole - we could not lie, but we loved it all; the building along with the beautiful garden that is part of it all.
Mount Stewart County Down - 19th Century House and Gardens-The National Trust Northern Ireland

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