Brief History of Ballymena

Ballymena City of the Seven Towers allegedly got its name from the owner of the Ballymena Estate Sir Shafto Adair. He was sitting on a hill outside Ballymena when he said to a friend who was with him, “...there is the City of the Seven Towers.” and pointing to each one he named them:

Only three of those towers remain today. Let’s go on a little tour of the towers and see how they look today.

Here we have an old picture of Ballymena Castle, which was owned by the Adair Family. The first castle to be built by the Adair's on their Ballymena estate was erected in the reign of James I . It was burned down in 1740 and replaced by this Scottish baronial building in 1868, and it in turn was burned in 1957.

Now if you look at the picture opposite we have the site of Ballymena Castle as it is now. It’s now a car park and also the site where the Saturday market is held. In the centre we have one of the Castle stones which stands close to the original site.

The First Presbyterian Church in Meeting House Lane was founded in 1627. The present building on the right was put up between 1805 and 1812, and it used to have a tower. Due to it being unstable the tower was taken off the Church.

The Old Parish Church was actually built a century earlier than the actual tower itself. The Church was built in 1721 and the tower in the 1800’s. The last service to be held in the old church was in July 1855. As you can see from both pictures the only bit of the church left standing for some time now has been the tower.

The Braidwater Mill was built in 1866 and for years employed a vast majority of Ballymena’s working population.  The tower of the Braidwater Mill stood for a while after the mill itself was knocked down.  But that too has been knocked down.  The Braidwater Retail Park now stands in its place.  As you can see from the photos it has changed greatly.

St. Patrick's Church was built because the Old Parish Church off Church street became too small for the growing congregation of Ballymena.  The foundation stone for the Church was laid in 1853, and the Church itself was consecrated in 1855.  St. Patrick's Church was burned in a fire in 1879 but was restored again.  As you can see from the pictures not a lot has been changed through the years.  St Patrick's Church is still very much in use today.

The Old Town Hall was built on what was formerly the site of the Old Market House which was supposedly besieged and burnt in 1798.  The Old Town Hall occupied this site after the Market House was burned.  But again fire struck and the Old Town Hall was laid in 1924 and it was officially opened in 1928.  The pictures show just how different they were.

All Saints Roman Catholic Church is actually the second Church to occupy this site. The second Church was dedicated in November 1860. As the pictures show you this is another Church that hasn’t changed much through it’s long history.

As you can see only three of the seven original towers of Ballymena remain.  This decline can also be seen in Ballymena’s spiritual position.  It used to be a God-fearing town, actually known as ‘The Bible Belt’, but it is now more famous for its problem of drug abuse.  This reminds us that when we leave God out of our society the end result is destruction.  This not only applies to society but to each one of us as individuals – a life without Christ will be unfulfilled and will end in eternal destruction.