Downhill Beach – sand below the temple

Overview

The thing that sets Downhill apart from most Irish beaches is that you drive straight onto it. A free car park sits at the entrance and cars are allowed on the sand year-round, which makes unloading boards, buggies and picnics easy. The catch is real, though: soft wind-blown sand builds up near the entrance and cars do get stuck, so heed the signage and don’t venture beyond the wooden posts, where a car-free zone is marked off.

The beach is a seven-mile ribbon of firm sand on the north-west coast of County Londonderry, the eastern end of a continuous strand that carries on to Magilligan Point. It looks across the water to County Antrim and County Donegal, and it frequently earns the Blue Flag and Seaside Award, most recently in 2024–25. What most people come for, though, is the folly on the cliff above.

Mussenden Temple

Mussenden Temple sits on a 120-foot cliff at the eastern end of the strand. Frederick Augustus Hervey, the Bishop of Derry and Earl of Bristol, built it in 1785 as a summer library, modelling it on the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli. Erosion crept close enough over the centuries that the National Trust ran a cliff-stabilisation project in 1997 to keep the building from going over the edge.

Game of Thrones fans will know the setting: this beach was Dragonstone in the second series, where Melisandre burned the Seven Idols on the sand. A signposted path climbs from the beach to the demesne and the temple, and the view back down over the strand is the reward for the pull uphill.

Nature and wildlife

The dune system behind the beach, with Benone and Magilligan, is an Area of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation, protecting a fragile stretch of coast. The slacks in the dunes support butterflies, moths and wild bees, and the birdlife is the reason to be out early: oystercatchers, curlews, skylarks and both common and Arctic terns through the year, with more waders on the spring and autumn passage. To protect nesting birds, dogs must be on a lead between 1 June and 15 September, and it’s worth keeping to the marked trails.

What to do

• Water sports: The long, shallow shelf and steady Atlantic swell suit surfing, windsurfing and paddle-boarding. Operators around Castlerock hire gear and give lessons.
• Swimming: RNLI lifeguards patrol in July and August, 10am to 6pm.
• Horse riding: Permitted 1 May to 30 September, before 11am and after 7pm, with local stables running guided rides.
• The railway tunnels: Between Downhill and Castlerock the line runs through two tunnels blasted out of the rock. Clearing them in June 1846 took 3,600lb of gunpowder in a single charge that drew a crowd and a celebratory banquet. Watching a train emerge is still a small thrill for children.

A footnote for a certain kind of visitor: a young C.S. Lewis holidayed at Castlerock and came to Downhill in July 1901, long before Narnia.

Getting there and parking

Downhill is signposted off the A2 coast road, with the free car park at the beach entrance. The nearest railway station is Castlerock, about 2 km north, on the NI Railways line between Derry/Londonderry and Coleraine; seasonal bus services also stop nearby in summer. Derry/Londonderry city is roughly 30 km east, about 35 minutes by car.

Practical information

Arrive early on summer weekends for a spot near the entrance and its facilities. The strand is long enough that there’s always room further along, and the sand near the vegetation lines is soft and uneven, so bring proper footwear for the dunes.