What is the story behind the house having two different architectural styles?

The dual facade is attributed to a disagreement between Bernard Ward, 1st Viscount Bangor, and his wife Anne, who had incompatible tastes in architecture. The viscount preferred the Palladian Classical style fashionable among Anglo-Irish landowners of the period; his wife preferred the Strawberry Hill Gothic style pioneered by Horace Walpole at his Twickenham villa. According to the standard account, they settled the dispute by each designing the facade of the elevation facing their own rooms — the viscount got his Classical north front, his wife her Gothic south front. The result is a house that reads as entirely different buildings from two directions, a genuine architectural curiosity and probably the most visible evidence in stone of a 250-year-old marital disagreement.

Is the Dublin departure tour the same as the Belfast tour?

The programme is essentially identical — both cover Castle Ward's Winterfell courtyard, Tollymore Forest Park's wolfswood, and other filming locations, with GoT costumes provided and a former series extra as guide. The main difference is the coach journey: from Dublin the trip north to County Down takes longer, making it a fuller day. The Dublin tour (t340076) has 401 reviews at 4.8★ versus 73 reviews at 4.8★ for the Belfast departure (t335771) — the same star rating but significantly more reviews on the Dublin version, making it the higher-confidence booking for visitors based in the Republic of Ireland.

Castle Ward

Northern ireland · Strangford, County Down, Northern Ireland · Near Strangford

Built 1765 · Split-personality 18th-century country house: the main house presents a Palladian Classical facade on one elevation and a Strawberry Hill Gothic facade on the other, reflecting a documented disagreement between the 1st Viscount Bangor and his wife on architectural style; the estate also includes a 16th-century tower house whose farmyard courtyard served as Winterfell in Game of Thrones Season 1

This page is part of an independent travel guide and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by Castle Ward.

Castle Ward estate in County Down, Northern Ireland — the 18th-century National Trust house with its twin Classical and Gothic facades on Strangford Lough, with the 16th-century tower house farmyard that served as Winterfell's courtyard in Game of Thrones

Quick Facts

Hours: Daily 10:00–18:00
Guided tour from: €57
Duration: 1.5–2 hours at Castle Ward; full day on the GYG tour
Best time: April to October
Nearest city: Strangford

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From Belfast: Game of Thrones Winterfell Locations Trek

⭐ 4.8 (73)Top Rated·10 hours

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Highlights

✦The original Winterfell — Castle Ward's 16th-century tower house farmyard was used as the filming location for Winterfell's courtyard in Game of Thrones Season 1, including the scenes where Ned Stark receives King Robert Baratheon; visitors arrive in costume with swords, shields, and Stark banners provided by the tour for photo opportunities on the exact filming ground
✦The split-personality house — the 18th-century main house presents two completely different architectural facades: Classical Palladian on one side, Strawberry Hill Gothic on the other, reportedly because the 1st Viscount Bangor and his wife could not agree on a style; each built the elevation facing their own favourite rooms
✦The GYG Game of Thrones full-day trek from Belfast (t335771, from €57, 4.8★ / 73 reviews) combines Castle Ward with Tollymore Forest Park — used as Winterfell's wolfswood and the site of the opening dire wolf scene — plus other filming locations along the Antrim/Down coast; a former GoT extra serves as guide
✦Also available from Dublin (t340076, from €79, 4.8★ / 401 reviews) — the same GoT filming-locations day tour operates from Dublin with a longer coach journey; 401 reviews make it the higher-confidence Belfast-to-Dublin alternative for visitors based in the Republic of Ireland
✦Strangford Lough — the estate sits on the shore of Northern Ireland's largest sea lough, a National Nature Reserve and the most important inlet for migratory wildfowl in Ireland; the combination of the GoT filming history and the lough setting makes Castle Ward the most scenically complete stop on the Northern Ireland GoT circuit

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Castle Ward is a National Trust estate on the western shore of Strangford Lough in County Down — and it is carrying the weight of two entirely separate identities simultaneously. One is as an 18th-century Anglo-Irish country house with one of the more eccentric backstories in the National Trust's portfolio: the main house, built in 1765 by the 1st Viscount Bangor, presents a Palladian Classical facade on the north elevation and a Strawberry Hill Gothic facade on the south, because the viscount and his wife could not agree on an architectural style and reportedly settled it by each designing the elevation that faced their own private rooms. The result is a house that reads as two different buildings joined at the hip — a genuine architectural curiosity that would be worth visiting on its own terms.

The other identity is as Winterfell. The 16th-century tower house farmyard at Castle Ward — a working stone courtyard with a gate tower and outbuildings — was chosen as the filming location for Winterfell's courtyard in Game of Thrones Season 1. Ned Stark received King Robert Baratheon in this courtyard. The direwolf pups were found just outside it. The stone walls, gate arch, and cobbled yard that millions of viewers watched in 2011 are the same ones visitors walk through today, and the tour operators who run the licensed GoT experience at the estate have understood exactly what to do with this: they provide Stark costumes, foam swords, shields, and house banners for photos on the exact filming ground, and they hire former Game of Thrones extras as guides.

The GYG full-day trek from Belfast (t335771) covers Castle Ward alongside Tollymore Forest Park — the mixed woodland of oak, beech, and exotic conifers used as Winterfell's wolfswood and the site of the opening scene in which the Starks discover the dead dire wolf and her pups. The combination of the two locations gives visitors a genuinely immersive Game of Thrones experience that is more than a photo stop: the filming locations are substantive enough to spend half a day across the two sites, and the guide's insider knowledge from having worked on the production adds a layer of detail that no guidebook provides. Entrance fees to both Castle Ward and Tollymore are confirmed included in the tour price.

Visitors based in Dublin can join the equivalent tour (t340076, from €79, 4.8★ / 401 reviews) which makes the journey north for the same filming-location programme — the higher review count on the Dublin departure makes it the better-evidenced option for visitors approaching from the Republic of Ireland.

History

Castle Ward's site on Strangford Lough has been inhabited since at least the early medieval period; the 16th-century tower house whose farmyard served as Winterfell is the oldest surviving structure on the estate. The main house was built in 1765 by Bernard Ward (later 1st Viscount Bangor) and his wife Anne, whose architectural disagreement produced the twin-facade design that has made the house unusual in the National Trust's Irish portfolio. The Ward family, later the Earls of Bangor, held the estate through the 19th century before declining fortunes led to its eventual transfer to the National Trust in the 20th century. Game of Thrones filming at the estate began with Season 1 in 2010; the production's choice of Castle Ward's tower house farmyard as Winterfell's courtyard proved consequential for Northern Ireland's tourism industry, as GoT locations became major draws from the show's broadcast in 2011 onward.

How to Visit

Getting there: Castle Ward is 2 km from Strangford village, 48 km south of Belfast. By car from Belfast, take the A2 toward Strangford (55 minutes). By public transport, take a bus to Downpatrick and a taxi or shuttle to the estate — or book the GYG tour which handles all transport from Belfast or Dublin. The GYG trek from Belfast (t335771) picks up in central Belfast.

Tickets: Walk-up entry to Castle Ward estate is approximately €14 per adult, €7 per child (National Trust rates; free for NT members). The GYG full-day Game of Thrones trek from Belfast (t335771, from €57 per person, 4.8★ / 73 reviews) includes entrance fees to Castle Ward and Tollymore Forest Park, GoT costumes and props for photos, and a former series extra as guide. From Dublin: t340076 (from €79, 4.8★ / 401 reviews) offers the same programme from a Dublin departure point — a longer coach journey but a higher-confidence booking given the review volume.

Practical tips: Book the GYG tour in advance — the GoT filming-location tours fill up, particularly in summer and on weekends. The tour allocates time for the costume photo session at the Winterfell courtyard; those who want to explore the rest of the Castle Ward estate (main house, walled garden, Strangford Lough shoreline) should plan an additional independent visit, as the tour's programme focuses on the GoT sites. The lough shoreline walk after the Winterfell experience gives the best views of the estate in its landscape setting.

Combine with: [Dunluce Castle](/castles/northern-ireland/dunluce-castle) (~120 km north on the Antrim coast — the dramatic ruined clifftop castle partly used as Harrenhal's exterior in GoT, above the cave system and sea) and [Carrickfergus Castle](/castles/northern-ireland/carrickfergus-castle) (~50 km north of Castle Ward near Belfast — one of the best-preserved Norman castles in Ireland, on Belfast Lough).

Frequently Asked Questions

The filming location is genuinely at Castle Ward — specifically the tower house farmyard, a stone courtyard with a gate tower and outbuildings adjacent to the 16th-century tower house. This was the primary Winterfell courtyard location used in Season 1, including the arrival of King Robert's procession and the initial dire wolf scenes. The GoT production made extensive use of Northern Ireland locations from Season 1 onward, and Castle Ward was among the first confirmed. The National Trust estate has since developed a licensed GoT experience at the site, confirming the filming connection officially.