Crawfordsburn

There is an understandable assumption that Crawfordsburn village was once part of the estate of the Crawfords, who occupied what is now the Country Park since almost the start of the Plantation in 1606. In fact, when the Blackwood family purchased land in Ballymullan at the beginning of the eighteenth century it included all the land to the south of the ravine at the back of the hotel. The burn, which crosses under the far end of the street, ran to the sea through the Crawford lands, hence the name of the village.

The Clandeboye estate lands, identified in the 1879 Declaration of Title included the Old Inn, the houses along main street, the Cottage at the far end, and the land behind them.

The Cottage, and the Old Inn were once owned by Mrs Reid, who sold them to William Johnston in 1910. He owned the Garden of Eden Bus Company that ran between Belfast and Crawfordsburn and proceeded to convert the Cottage into a tearoom called the Cingalee and built a ball room behind it. Unfortunately, Mr Johnston was later unable to renew the liquor licence for the hotel, due to its perceived attachment to the tea rooms. He was devastated by this and, losing heart, he closed them both down. It was only in the 1930s that Paddy Falloon took them on and eventually regained the hotel licence by creating the Country Club as a separate entity. And so, the two businesses parted, and each thrived until the 1990s, when the club became less fashionable, and membership dropped dramatically. The club first sold off the Cottage to local architect, Alan Cook who effectively rescued it from future development, because, in 2009 the decision was made to close the club and sell the remaining land for building, thus ending a century of social enterprise in the village. [1]

But there is another story, that led to the creation of a new social enterprise: In 1877 the houses on the South side of main street were let on 99-year leases. Later legislation provided for the purchase of the freeholds of long leases, but the owner of number 24 died in the 1980s without taking advantage of the provision.[2] This meant that the building reverted to the estate. Lady Dufferin did not want to capitalise on this windfall by selling the house so decided to offer a lease to the Camphill Community who converted it for use as a pottery and outreach for their students. More recently it was taken on by the Now Group, a social enterprise company that helps people with learning difficulties and autism and is now the successful Loaf Pottery and Cafe.[3]

The village is therefore fortunate that the Old Inn and the Cottage, both dating back to the beginning of the seventeenth century, are cared for and prospering, together with a new century of social enterprise at number 24.

[1] https://www.bangorhistoricalsocietyni.org/MEDIA/BROCHURES/CrawfordsburnCC.pdf

[2] Leasehold (Enlargement and Extension) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971

[3] https://www.loafcatering.com/cafes