The Holestone Estate
The Holestone Estate originally formed part of the Donegall
Estate, as did much land in Belfast and County Antrim. It takes its
name from an unusual standing stone with a hole through it, called
the Holestone, which no longer lies within the estate. When the
Marquis of Donegall got into financial difficulties due to heavy
gambling, long leases on parts of the estate were sold to raise
money to pay off his debts.
The main house, Holestone House, which is still standing on the
estate, was built in 1827 for James Owens to replace a previous
smaller house on the site. The property had been owned by the Owens
family from at least as early as the 1760s. A stone in the park
records that 2500 trees were planted there between 1791 and 1802 by
William Owens. James Owens was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy
Lieutenant for Co. Antrim and he also served as High Sheriff in
1838.
The Owens family ceased to own the house in 1919 and it was sold
to Captain WG Hamilton in 1932. The main house remains the property
of this family and is currently the home of one of WG Hamilton’s
descendants. It had until quite recently been used as a guest
house. The wall around the deerpark was built in C1836 with three
gateways and respective gate lodges. Only one of these is still
standing; the one at the original main entrance to the estate which
is now a private residence.
The Cache
The cache is a small tab-lock box wrapped in a black sack. It
includes a logbook, pencil stub and enough room for Geocoins or
small travel bugs.
Do not remove any stones from the wall.
There is a stone covering the cache which is identified by a
Geocaching logo. This is the only stone which needs to be
moved.