Last Sunday I visited the picturesque village of Gracehill which is located just a few miles from Ballymena in County Antrim. The village has been in the news lately. And it’s been very much a positive news story. Because, on July 26th, Gracehill became the first site in Northern Ireland to be granted cultural World Heritage status by Unesco * . I’ve always wanted to visit Gracehill so I was very happy to finally get there. And I thought I’d share a few pictures from my visit.
*UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientifice and Cultural Organisation
A few facts about Gracehill
Gracehill is a Moravian village founded 264 years ago. It is the only complete Moravian settlement in Ireland. The Moravian church, one of the earliest Protestant denominations, arrived in the UK and Ireland from central Europe in the early 18th century. Its designation as a cultural World Heritage site is the culmination of efforts by the local community over a period of approximately two decades.
Points of interest
The village has a well preserved collection of beautiful and distinctive Georgian buildings that remain largely unchanged to this day.
1.The Old Shop which was constructed for the settlement in 1787 (as seen from the village square with beautiful lime trees on either side.
2.The Penfold Postbox
Also located at the The Old Shop is a reproduction Victorian Penfold postbox installed to mark the village’s historic postal links with the USA. Royal Mail has subsequently adopted it as the village’s working postbox.
3. The Ladies Academy established in 1797, subsequently Single Sisters House
4. The Moravian Church
As it was Sunday, and there was a church service taking place, I only took a picture of the spire. However, the church is a beautiful building and its graveyard has a fascinating history which you can learn more about on one of the village tours.
5. The Village Square and pond
The pond was reinstated by the Gracehill Old School trust.
A little video of the pond with The Old Shop in the background and those enormous lime trees
6. The Old Schoolhouse
The Old Schoolhouse now houses a visitors centre, an historic classroom as well as an award winning restaurant called The Millside. We went there for Sunday lunch. It was easily the best Sunday lunch we’ve had in a long time – very reasonably priced with friendly service.
In summary
All in all, we really enjoyed our visit to Gracehill. It’s a beautiful village, full of history and charm. And I suspect the village will be getting a lot more visitors , following its new Unesco status. I’ve only scratched the surface here. But hopefully the photos give you a taste of what to expect. And as I’ve mentioned, you can learn a lot more about the village’s history during one of the tours. I’ve added some useful links at the end of this post.
Have a lovely Sunday x
Useful Links
Gracehill Village (for more info on the village and to book a tour)
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Definitely worth a visit. Thank you, Paula! 🙋♂️
Such a lovely place. Thank you for reading my post about it 🙂
One more spot to add!!
You’ll need to visit for at least a year…lol 🙂
That would be lovely!
This looks gorgeous, I had no idea it existed and had even missed the UNESCO news … Antrim has so many gems
Yes its definitely worth a wee visit 🙂