This beautiful avenue of beech trees was planted by the Stuart family in the eighteenth century. It was intended as a compelling landscape feature to impress visitors as they approached the entrance to their Georgian mansion, Gracehill House. Two centuries later, the trees remain a magnificent sight and have become one of the most photographed natural phenomena in Northern Ireland.
However, many visitors are unaware of the supernatural ‘Grey Lady’ who appears at dusk among the trees. She silently glides along the roadside and vanishes as she passes the last beech tree. Some say the spectre is the ghost of a maid from the nearby house who died in mysterious circumstances centuries ago. Others believe that she is a lost spirit from an abandoned graveyard that is thought to lie hidden in the fields nearby. On Hallowe’en night, the forgotten graves are said to open and the Grey Lady is joined on her walk by the tormented souls of those who were buried beside her.
Call into Ballymoney Tourist Information Centre for directions and a free map.
Website:
www.visitballymoney.com