The Dark Hedges
A 250-year-old landowner's flex became one of the most photographed roads in Northern Ireland, and then Arya Stark ran down it in Game of Thrones.
Published
Quick Facts
- Location
- Bregagh Road, near Armoy and Stranocum, County Antrim
- Planted
- Around the 1770s, by the Stuart family
- Trees
- Beech; roughly 150 were planted, and fewer than that survive
- Length
- About half a mile of tunnel-like avenue
- Built for
- Impressing visitors approaching Gracehill House
- Screen fame
- The Kingsroad in Game of Thrones, series two (filmed 2011)
- Storm damage
- Storm Gertrude, January 2016, brought down several trees
- Legend
- Said to be haunted by the Grey Lady
A show-off driveway that outlived the show-off
The Dark Hedges began as a piece of Georgian social climbing. In the 18th century the Stuart family planted beech trees along either side of the approach to their new mansion, Gracehill House, so that guests would arrive through a dramatic green tunnel. The house was built by James Stuart and named after his wife, Grace Lynd. The plan was about 150 beeches, planted close together, and the effect was exactly what he wanted. The Stuarts and their coaches are long gone. The trees stayed and kept growing, and today they are far grander than any landowner could have imagined.
Why the branches knit together
Beech trees planted this close, with only a narrow road between them, reach for the same light. Their branches have twisted and interlocked overhead, forming an arch that filters the sun into flickering shafts. The trunks are smooth, silvery and bulging with age. Their roots heave up the verges and the surrounding walls. The effect is dramatic in any season: bare and skeletal in winter, glowing green in late spring, copper in autumn. The name is thought to come from the gloom beneath the canopy, which is deep even on a bright day.
The day Arya Stark ran for it
In 2011 the production team of Game of Thrones used the road as the Kingsroad. It is the route along which Arya Stark, disguised as a boy, is smuggled out of King's Landing in series two. The scene lasts only moments, but it transformed the road's fortunes. Photographers, tour groups and fans began arriving in numbers that a quiet country lane had never been built for. The television version was polished a little. The real road is narrower, rougher and far quieter than the screen suggests, at least at sunrise.
Storm Gertrude and the doors
Age and weather have been hard on the avenue. In January 2016 Storm Gertrude toppled several of the trees, and the line has been thinner ever since. The fallen timber did not go to waste. Craftspeople carved it into a set of doors inspired by Game of Thrones scenes, which were installed in pubs and other venues around Northern Ireland that were linked to the filming. Some of the best-known beeches have, in effect, gone on to a second life. Traffic has since been restricted along the stretch to protect the trees from the pressure of vehicles and crowds.
The Grey Lady of Bregagh Road
Every proper avenue needs a ghost. Local legend says the Dark Hedges are haunted by a spirit known as the Grey Lady, said to drift along the road at dusk and vanish among the trees. No one has ever produced evidence of her, and the stories are best treated as a folklore bonus. They do, however, flourish around Halloween, when the road's shadowy mood needs very little help. Stand under the arch at dusk with the wind in the branches and you will see why the tale stuck.
Getting the best of it
Early morning is the secret. Come at sunrise, ideally on a misty day, and you may have the avenue almost to yourself, with low light slanting through the branches. Look up as well as ahead: the knotted canopy is the real marvel. Notice the gaps where trees have fallen, and the pale, wrinkled trunks that have outlasted the family who planted them. The road is close to the north coast, so it combines easily with a trip to the Giant's Causeway and the Causeway Coastal Route.
Notable people
- James Stuart
- Grace Lynd
- Arya Stark (fictional)
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