Gracehill - Ballymena’s own time machine

2012 is a big year for Northern Ireland in terms of tourism, sporting and historical events and celebrations but it also marks the tenth anniversary of the Causeway Coast & Glens Heritage Trust, an organisation that was established in 2002 to protect and promote the unique natural, cultural and built heritage of the Causeway Coast & Glens area.

To celebrate this important milestone the Trust has developed a timetable of events and study visits within the region, the first of which was a guided tour of Gracehill village.

Leading the tour, Sally Ann Johnston, wife of Dr David Johnston Chairman of Gracehill Old School Trust, showed delegates around the settlement explaining the architecture, the history and the traditions of the Moravian way of life.

Representatives from the Causeway Coast & Glens Heritage Trust included Chairman Bill Harpur and Directors Mike Jones, David Erwin and Mayor of Ballymena Hubert Nicholl.

Inside the Old School and armed with chalk and slate, Chairman of the management group of the Antrim Coast & Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Joe McFadden said: “Entering Gracehill is like taking an amazing step back in time. The ambience is serene and the whole experience of visiting the settlement has been enchanting”.

Mayor of Ballymena and a Director of the Heritage Trust, Alderman Hubert Nicholl thanked Dr David Johnston and his wife for the tour and the history of the village, adding on behalf of CCGHT: “I hope that we can build on the success of today’s visit. Conservation and heritage are important aspects of the work of the Trust and nowhere is this more prevalent than in Gracehill village”.