Castle Caldwell, Belleek, County Fermanagh 

Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London. 

p. 64. “(Caldwell, Bt/PB1858; Bloomfield/LGI1912) A C18 house of two storeys over a basement, on the shores of Lough Erne, with a delightful Georgian “pasteboard Gothic” façade. Pointed and quatrefoil windows, two little projecting turrets, and a battlemented pediment-gable at either end, surmounted by a pointed arch, like a belfy; the main block being linked by diminutive battlemented curved sweeps to a pair of tower pavilions. An octagon temple in the grounds near the water. Passed to the Bloomfields through the marriage of Brances, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Caldwell, 6^th Bt, of Castle Caldwell, to John Bloomfield, 1817. The house was ruinous by the end of C19.”

http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2014/04/castle-caldwell.html

CASTLE CALDWELL COMPRISED 4,865 ACRES IN THE 19TH CENTURY 

The founder of the Caldwells in Ulster, 

JOHN CALDWELL (c1590-1639), a prosperous merchant at Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, was born at Preston, Ayrshire. 

The second son by his second wife, Mary (née Swettenham), 

 
JAMES CALDWELL (c1630-c1717), who settled at Rossbeg, afterwards called Castle Caldwell, County Fermanagh. 
 
Mr Caldwell, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1677, married firstly, ca 1657, Catherine, daughter of Charles Campbell, of Ayrshire, and had issue, 

Charles; 
HENRY, his heir; 
Hugh; 
John. 

He wedded secondly, ca 1690, Mrs Susanna Becke, of London. 
 
Mr Caldwell was created a baronet in 1683, designated of Wellsborough, County Fermanagh. 
 
In 1671, Sir James purchased the estate of Wellsborough, close to the present village of Belleek, County Fermanagh. 
 
 
He was Captain of Horse and High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1677. 
 
In 1689, Sir James, Colonel of Foot, was attainted by the Irish Parliament of JAMES II. 
 
He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, 

 
SIR HENRY CALDWELL, 2nd Baronet (d 1726), High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1693, who espoused Catherine, daughter of Sir John Hume, 2nd Baronet, and had issue, an only child, 
 
SIR JOHN CALDWELL, 3rd Baronet, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1730, who married, in 1719, Anne, daughter of the Very Rev John French, Dean of Raphoe, and had issue, 

JOHN, his successor; 
Hume; 
Henry, father of the 6th Baronet; 
Catherine. 

Colonel Hume Caldwell was a very distinguished officer in the Austrian service. He was killed in a sally from the fortress of Schweidnitz in 1762. 
 
Sir John died in 1744, and was succeeded by his eldest son, 

 
THE RT HON SIR JAMES CALDWELL, 4th Baronet (c1722-84),  High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1756, who being in the service of the Empress Maria Theresa, was created by that princess COUNT OF MILAN, in the Holy Roman Empire. 
 
In 1766, Sir James, in passing through Vienna, having had an audience of leave of the Empress Queen, Her Imperial Majesty, in a very gracious manner, charged him with a magnificent gold box, to present to the Dowager Lady Caldwell, mother of Colonel Caldwell, as a testimony of Her Majesty’s gratitude for the signal services performed by that gallant officer. 
 
Sir James raised, in 1759, at his own expense, a body of light horse comprising 250 men, which he commanded for some years. 
 
He married, in 1753, Elizabeth, daughter of the Most Rev Josiah Hort, Lord Archbishop of Tuam, by whom he had, with four daughters, three sons, 

JOHN, his successor; 
Fitzmaurice; 
Josiah John. 

He was succeeded by his son, 

 
SIR JOHN CALDWELL, 5th Baronet (1756-1830), of Castle Caldwell, Count of Milan, who wedded, in 1789, Harriet, daughter of Hugh Meynell, and had two daughters, of whom the elder, Louisa Georgiana, espoused firstly, in 1823, Sir Josiah William Hort Bt, of Hortland; and secondly, Major John Colpoys Bloomfield, of Redwood, County Tipperary. 
 
Sir John was Governor of County Fermanagh, 1793; lieutenant-colonel in the Fermanagh Militia; Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1798; Captain in the Belleek Infantry, 1802. 
 
On his death, his countship of the Holy Roman Empire expired, and the baronetcy reverted to his cousin, 
 
SIR JOHN CALDWELL, 6th Baronet (1775–1842), born at Quebec, who married, in 1800, Jane, daughter of James Davidson, an army surgeon, and had issue, 

HENRY JOHN, his successor; 
Anne. 

Sir John was buried at St Matthews, Quebec; called to the Canadian Bar, 1798; member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, 1810-23 Receiver-General, 1823. 
 
He was succeeded by his only son, 
 
SIR HENRY JOHN CALDWELL, 7th Baronet (1801-58), was a Seigneur and political figure in Quebec. 
 
He represented Dorchester in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada from 1830-34. 
 
Sir Henry was born in Quebec City, the son of John Caldwell, who was the son of Henry Caldwell, and Jane Davidson. 
 
He inherited the seigneury of Lauzon after the death of his grandfather. 
 
Sir Henry was a Justice of the Peace in 1816. 
 
He married Sophia Louisa Paynter, though the marriage was without issue. 
 
In 1826, the seigneury of Lauzon was sold to clear his father’s debts, even though it had not been part of his father’s property; Caldwell’s appeal was unsuccessful. 
 
He later operated a sawmill in the seigneury of Île-Verte. 

 
The title became extinct on the 7th Baronet’s death in 1858. 

CASTLE CALDWELL, near Belleek, County Fermanagh, is now an 18th century ruin comprising two storeys over a basement. 
 
The original castle was built by Francis Blennerhassett, son of Sir Edward Blennerhassett, who obtained it in 1610. 
 
The property was purchased about 1662 by by James Caldwell. 
 
It overlooks the shore of Lough Erne. 
 
The facade is in the pasteboard Gothic style, with quatrefoil pointed windows, two small projecting turrets, and a battlemented pediment-gable at either end, surmounted by a pointed arch rather akin to a belfry. 

The main block is linked by battlemented curved sweeps to a pair a tower-pavilions. 
 
There is an octagon temple in the grounds near the lough. 
 
Castle Caldwell passed to the Bloomfield family through the marriage of Frances, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Calwell, 6th Baronet, to John Bloomfield, in 1817. 
 
The house became ruinous by the end of the 19th century. 
 

*****  

 
THOUGH Castle Caldwell today is largely covered with forest planting, having been developed for this purpose since 1913, it remains an outstanding site, both for its peninsular position on the shores of lower Lough Erne and for the remnants of the dwelling and garden. 
 
The demesne was established in the early 17th century by the Blennerhassetts, and the original gardens were in a formal layout, with straight avenues and canals aligned upon the house, known as Castle Hassett. 
 
Extensive changes were undertaken in the grounds in the 18th century, which was by then heavily wooded, though there were views of the lough from the house. 
 
Portions of these features still can be found in the undergrowth. 
 
The decline of the ornamental and productive gardens preceded the acquisition of the grounds early in the 20th century for forestry.  
 
The forest planting itself has become historic: There is a noted large Sitka spruce in the car park planted in 1921. 
 
The gate lodge, known as Railway Gate, was built ca 1866 into the newly-constructed railway embankment. 
 
Trains rumbled overhead and carriages entered the demesne underneath and arch beside the castellated porter’s house. 
 
Within the demesne there is a 17th century ruined church and graveyard. 
 
Bloomfield ordered a geological survey of his land and was informed that the clay contained all of the necessary raw materials to make pottery (feldspar, kaolin, flint, clay and shale). 
 
He took on two partners (Robert Williams Armstrong and David McBirney), talked the government into building a rail spur to near-by Belleek (4 miles to the west) and built a pottery factory, Mrs Bloomfield laying the first foundation stone in 1853. 
 
Thus were the beginnings of a very successful business and a line of pottery now known the world over as Belleek Pottery. 
 
Unusual in its lustre and beauty, it has been a prized possession of royalty and many others for many years. 
 
Blanche Caldwell Grierson (nee Bloomfield) was the only daughter of John Caldwell Bloomfield DL, of Castle Caldwell, a former High Sheriff of County Fermanagh. 
 
She was also related to the Brookes of Colebrooke. 
 
During the First World War, Mrs Grierson was an active enthusiastic worker on behalf of the UVF Hospital, where many beds were endowed through her efforts. 
 
She died in 1920. 
 
The Griersons had a daughter, Ula, who married Henry Kinahan and died on 24 February, 1949. 
 
First published in September, 2010. 

www.nihgt.org/resources/pdf/Register_of_Parks_Gardens_Demesnes-NOV20.pdf

CASTLE CALDWELL, County Fermanagh (AP FERMANAGH AND OMAGH 07) F/005 
REGISTERED GRADE A 
Loughside demesne (575.7 acres/233.1ha) occupying two peninsulas on the west side of Lower 
Lough Erne, lying 5.2 miles (8.3km) east of Belleek and 7. 1 miles (11.4km) south-west of Pettigoe. 
Though this demesne is largely covered with forest planting, having been developed for this 
purpose since 1913, it remains an important site, both for its peninsular position on the shores of 
Lower Lough Erne and for the remnants of the dwelling and garden. The demesne has its origin in 
an 1610 Plantation grant to Sir Edward Blennerhasset, of ‘the middle proportion of Banaghmore’, 
where, by 1619, Edward’s son Francis was occupying a three-storey stone house within a bawn 
which became known as ‘Castle Hasset’. Much of the structure of this early house and bawn, 
built between 1613 and 1619, can still be traced in the later adoptions and rebuilding of the 18th- 
century Gothick mansion ruin (scheduled SMR7/FERM 171:003). This includes the flankers 
originally belonging to the bawn described in 1619 as ‘a strong bawn of lime & stone with 2 
flankers & within it a strong [three-storey] house…67ft long & 25ft broad’. The house was 
probably attacked in 1641, but judging from the fact that the flankers were re-used, it may not 
have been destroyed. In 1671 (some sources say 1662) the Blennerhasset estate was sold to 
James Caldwell I (c.1630-1716), an Enniskillen merchant who was created a baronet in 1683. In 
the same year a reference to a house named ‘Castle Caldwell’ is recorded. Sir James was 
succeeded by his second son Sir Henry Caldwell (d.c.1726), followed by his only son, Sir John 
Caldwell I (d.1744). We do not have much information about the associated demesne and garden 
landscape for the house at this time; we can assume that the 17th and early 18th-century house 
was enclosed within formal (geometric) gardens and other walled courts. The straight road 
leading through the Rossbeg Peninsula (0.32 miles/0.52km) with north-east south-west axis 
belongs to this period and would have served as a tree-lined avenue approach so typical of this 
era. It is flanked on the north side by a plantation church of 1630 on a mound (FERM 171:019), 
later rebuilt by the Caldwells in the 18th-century as a chapel, now a roofless ruin; the graveyard 
has Caldwell and Johnston family vaults. In 1744 the demesne and estate was inherited by Sir 
John Caldwell’s son, Sir James Caldwell II (c.1722-84), who married Elizabeth Hort, daughter of 
the Archbishop of Tuam and with her dowry of £10,000 he began to make changes to the 
demesne. By 1778 he noted that he had ‘layd out above sixteen thousand pounds upon a most 
comfortable house and a very large court of excellent offices….two very large walled gardens with 
fish ponds and a most beautiful temple, glazed with painted glass and a vast expenditure on a 
demesne of 700 acres, making it worth three times worth as much as it was.’ The natural 
advantages of the site enhanced by Sir James’s work made it one of the attractions of the county 
and some idea of its appearance at this time can be deduced from Arthur Young’s description of 
1776 and a line-engraving entitled ‘Caldwell Castle the beautiful seat of Sir James Caldwell in 
Ireland’ published by F. Newbery of London in 1780. James Caldwell II’s work was carried on by 
his son Sir John Caldwell II (1756-1830) who ‘extended and regularised’ the house along gothick 
lines, writing in 1791 that ‘part of the old house was so shattered and its walls in so ruinous a 
state that I was obliged to pull it down entirely and a new and commodious building is now rising 
from the ruins.’ While Sir John Caldwell II in 1791-92, rebuilt and enlarged the house 
considerably, examination of the present ruins (in need of conservation) suggests that a 
surprising amount of the original fabric of the 17th century building may still be in place; 
following its transformation into a Gothick on the lines of Strawberry Hill, it must have appeared 
quite a fantasy castle, the more so as at that time as the lough levels were much higher and the 
water came close to its walls. The later 18th century improvements would have seen the 
removal of the walled enclosures that would have formerly enclosed the house and allowed the 
house to be opened up and visible across the newly appreciated ‘naturalised’ landscape, where 

Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (NI) – November 2020 
the Caldwell’s had been planting extensively. The walled garden (1.71 acres/0.69ha) was located 
a short distance south-west of the house and is depicted on the 1830s OS map with a south wall 
composed of semi-circular alcoves for stone-fruit – an unusual but not unique feature in Ireland; it 
is depicted on the 1780 Newbery line-engraving of the demesne, so was clearly present by then. 
Inside the walled garden there was a fish pond, while the house yards and offices, with a quay, 
flanked the east side of the garden. There was another walled garden with its own quay built at 
the south-east end of the Rossergole Peninsula, close to a ‘Bathing house’ marked on the 1830s 
OS map; this garden has a trapezoidal shape (1.59 acres/0.64) and may well have been originally 
ornamental in the 18th century, though by the 1830s is shown as orchard. The ‘Bathing House’ at 
the tip of the peninsula is the octagonal ‘beautiful temple’ mentioned by Young; ; it was a 
belvedere approached by a three-arched stone bridge, built by Sir James Caldwell II in the mid 
18th century and foundations are still in place. Castle Caldwell was inherited by Sir John’s 
daughter, Frances Arabella Caldwell (1792-1872) who married John Bloomfield in 1817. It passed 
to their son John Caldwell Bloomfield (d.1897) in 1849. Little appears to have been added to the 
main house after the 1790s, although the 1835 OS Memoirs mention ‘alterations in its 
arrangement have been made of late by Major Bloomfield which have partly robbed it of its 
ancient style…’. Although an enterprising individual, who was a co-founder of the Belleek Pottery 
in 1853, J.C. Bloomfield’s time as owner coincided with a decline in the fortunes of the house and 
demesne. The last hurrah perhaps was the building of the gate lodge, the Railway Gate, around 
1865-66 into the newly constructed railway embankment for the Irish North Western Railway 
Company’s branch line from Bundoran Junction (Irvinestown) to Ballyshannon. It is likely the 
INWRC built and paid for the gate and lodge for then owner J.C. Bloomfield, with the Company 
engineer, Thomas Brassey, likely responsible for the design. Trains rumbled overhead and 
carriages entered the demesne underneath and arch beside the castellated porters house. Set 
against the lodge is a large (rough 1.5m) stone fiddle, which is inscribed ‘To the memory of Denis 
McCabe fiddler, who fell out of the St. Patrick barge belonging to Sir James Caldwell….& was 
drowned off this Point August Ye 13 1770…’. Much of the demesne was sold off to the Wigan 
Mining Company and the Scottish Insurance Company in the 1870s with the house and demesne 
lands put up for auction in 1877. Although the castle does not appear to have been sold, it was 
not reoccupied by the Bloomfield family on a permanent basis, and was noted by the valuers in 
1884 as ‘dilapidated…[and] going to ruin’. It was reduced to a shell after a fire in the early 1900s 
and ‘in ruins’ by 1912. In 1913 the demesne was bought by the Forestry Commission, an early 
acquisition, so much so, that the forest planting itself has become historic. There is a noted large 
Sitka spruce in the car park planted in 1921. Also a champion Field Maple (Acer campestre) 3.75 
@ 13.2m. It is now run by the Forest Service, and as well as forestry, it is used for public 
recreation and as a nature reserve, with the ruins of the castle (now fenced off for security 
purposes) is a Scheduled Monument. SMR: FERM 171:00 Plantation castle, 171:16 round cairn, 
171:17 platform rath, 171:18 rath, 171:19 17th century ruined church and graveyard and 171:35? 
Crannog. Public access. FER 152:8 – AP site, circular enclosure.