J3028 : Sign on The Mourne Wall, Slieve Meelmore
taken 6 years ago, 5 km SSE of Kilcoo, Co Down, Northern Ireland
The Mourne Wall is a 22 mile long wall in the Mourne Mountains. It was built between 1904 and 1922 by the Belfast Water Commissioners to enclose their catchment areas in the Mournes and protect the area from the effects of cattle and sheep on the water course Link . The wall is predominately constructed from local granite using traditional dry stone walling techniques; on average the wall is about 1.5 metres high and 0.8 to 0.9 metres thick. It is not uniform in construction along the entire length - the 'classic' granite wall is only to be found north of Carn mountain and Long Seefin with particularly impressive sections on Slieve Commedagh and Slieve Donard; elsewhere it largely resembles the traditional dry stone walls found elsewhere in the Mournes and south County Down. In places, such as Slieve Muck, the wall is not constructed of granite at all.
Images relating to Belfast & District Water Commissioners buildings and gates found throughout County Down between the Mourne Mountains and Belfast. They are found in and around the Silent Valley and in numerous places above the underground Mourne Conduit which carries water to Belfast. The buildings are mainly pumping stations, wells or houses (mostly now vacant) for staff. The red gates were erected, mainly through farmland, so that BWC staff (linesmen) could walk the length of the Mourne Conduit and visually check for problems at the surface. The posts have BWC cast into the metal at the top (Belfast Water Commissioners - see J3452 : BWC gate near Ballynahinch for a close-up) and there are a few to be found where the letters are back to front! The gates are also found in several places on the Mourne Wall - see J2923 : Stile and gate on the Mourne Wall and J3228 : The Mourne Wall at the Hare's Gap for examples.
See also the associated shared description for The Mourne Wall at Link .