Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan 2015
District Proposals: Hillsborough & Culcavy

Hillsborough is situated approximately 18 kilometres from Belfast and 4 kilometres south of Lisburn City Centre. Culcavy is located approximately 1.5 kilometres to the west of Hillsborough on the opposite side of the Belfast to Dublin Road (A1). In 2001, the combined population was 3,396.

In Hillsborough, the estate buildings and the extensive designated parkland of the Castle Estate contribute to the setting of the town, with St Malachy’s Parish Church providing a strong focus in the town centre. Avenues of mature trees on approach roads provide attractive gateways to the town. Hillsborough is a planned settlement, designed to complement and enjoy the associated parklands and Demesne of the Downshire estate. The quality of its landscape setting is apparent whether viewed from the main approach roads to the north, south and east or as seen from the centre of the town. The town has a unique character and a large part of the town has been designated as a Conservation Area, the boundary of which is shown on Map No. 4/001 – Hillsborough, and in the Appendix Map No. 56. Hillsborough’s historic gardens, Forest Park and amenity areas add to its special character.

Hillsborough has a long history as a settlement. As a town, it owes its origins to Colonel Arthur Hill who in the mid-17th century built a fort on an earlier settlement site (dating back to the first millennium AD). It appears to have been well established by the later 17th century, but its present layout was conceived in the 1730s and has extended periodically from that time onwards. The town itself has developed a very distinctive character over the past 300 years, reflected in its buildings and monuments, many of which are statutorily protected, and Hillsborough contains a significant number of late Georgian buildings.

Culcavy has a more modest history of development. In the early 19th century a distillery was established here, using the nearby Lagan Navigational Canal to receive raw materials. Through the 19th and 20th century more industry developed, along with housing. The increase in residential development in Culcavy is more marked in the later twentieth century, and little now survives of its earlier industrial elements.

The Settlement Development Limit is designated to take account of the town’s role as a local service and employment centre while protecting its natural setting. The opportunity for outward expansion is constrained by a number of environmental factors including the high quality landscape and the need to protect the setting of the Hillsborough Forest Park and Demesne and Hillsborough Castle and Demesne. The Settlement Development Limit is drawn to take into account the important contribution that these elements make to the setting of the town, and provides for urban containment.