Editing Castle Espie (section)

==History==

There is archaeological evidence from the [[Mesolithic]] period at the site.<ref name="Welsh Welsh 2018 p. 69">{{cite book | last1=Welsh | first1=H. | last2=Welsh | first2=J. | title=Sites of Prehistoric Life in Northern Ireland | publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Limited | year=2018 | isbn=978-1-78491-794-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hrETEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA69 | access-date=7 October 2022 | page=69}}</ref>

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, [[Lime (material)|lime]] was quarried at the site, and processed in [[Hoffmann kiln]]s.<ref name="Murray Logue 2010 p. ">{{cite book | last1=Murray | first1=E. | last2=Logue | first2=P. | title=Battles, Boats & Bones: Archaeological Discoveries in Northern Ireland, 1987-2008 | publisher=TSO Ireland | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-337-09592-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eYW86gYa7eYC | access-date=7 October 2022 }}</ref><ref name="Belfast Naturalists Field Club 1874 p. 33">{{cite book | author=Belfast Naturalists' Field Club | title=Guide to Belfast and the adjacent counties | publisher=Marcus Ward | year=1874 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KBcHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA33 | access-date=7 October 2022 | page=33}}</ref> In the nineteenth century, there were also brickworks on the site.<ref name="Jewitt 1878 p. 486">{{cite book | last=Jewitt | first=L.F.W. | title=The History of Ceramic Art in Great Britain: From Pre-historic Times Down Through Each Successive Period to the Present Day ... | publisher=Scribner, Welford, and Armstrong | series=The History of Ceramic Art in Great Britain: From Pre-historic Times Down Through Each Successive Period to the Present Day | year=1878 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HNtKAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA486 | access-date=7 October 2022 | page=486}}</ref>

The site has been managed by WWT since 1990.<ref name="Poots">{{cite web |title=Poots marks 30th anniversary of Castle Espie |url=https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/news/poots-marks-30th-anniversary-castle-espie |website=The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs |publisher=Gov.UK |access-date=7 October 2022 |date=12 November 2020}}</ref>