News

Historic house in Silent Valley reservoir restored as a walk-in museum

Dr Len O’Hagan, Chairman NI Water, John and Tom Haugh, Marie Ward, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and Dr Jim McGreevy, Heritage Lottery Fund at the official opening of Watertown House
Dr Len O’Hagan, Chairman NI Water, John and Tom Haugh, Marie Ward, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and Dr Jim McGreevy, Heritage Lottery Fund at the official opening of Watertown House Dr Len O’Hagan, Chairman NI Water, John and Tom Haugh, Marie Ward, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and Dr Jim McGreevy, Heritage Lottery Fund at the official opening of Watertown House

A PROPERTY which was among many built in the 1920s to accommodate the growing workforce involved in building the Silent Valley reservoir has been refurbished and turned into a walk-in museum.

The house was one of a number of original buildings which stood in the area around the Co Down reservoir once known as `Watertown' .

Unfortunately, when the reservoir was completed in 1933, the houses in Watertown fell empty and into disrepair. However funding from the Heritage Lottery has enabled the restoration of one of the original properties - Watertown House.

The property in Watertown is now open to visitors and has been restored as a museum, featuring artefacts from the 1920/1930s "to give visitors a taste of what life was like for the dam builders of the Silent Valley".

Mark Murnin, chairman of Newry, Mourne & Down District Council, said: "This grade B listed building was kindly donated by the Haugh family and dates back to 1923, when the temporary settlement of `Watertown' was established at the Silent Valley.

"At its peak, there were almost 2,000 workers on site, with approximately one third of these living in Watertown.

"This self-contained settlement had a range of amenities including its own police station, cinema and dance hall and is reputed to have been the first town in Ireland to have street lights.”

Dr Len O’Hagan, from NI Water, said the Silent Valley reservoir, which was built almost a century ago, "was an amazing triumph of engineering".

"It remains a stunning resource which is an integral part of water infrastructure in Northern Ireland supplying 120 million litres of water each day to homes and businesses".