Tor

The Taymouth Castle left Greenock in the Firth of Clyde on the 5th of January 1867. She was bound for Singapore carrying valuable cargo of cloth, metals and other items that were in demand in Asia.

The vessel was fairly new, built by Connell and Co of Glasgow and launched only eighteen months previously for Thomas Skinner and Co for their Glasgow-Asiatic trade.

As she left Greenock the ship was carrying one of the most valuable trading cargoes ever carried in a single craft bound for the Far East. This was to be the ship's last journey with a crew of sixteen.

Had the Taymouth crashed?   Why did she get lost?

Mr Miller reported that on the day of sailing he was taking his ship into the Atlantic Ocean by the North Channel, around the North Coast of Ireland.

Weather conditions that night were very stormy.

On the morning of Sunday the sixth of January 1867, the steamer Rose left Derry bound for Morecambe on the English coast. She had been stormbound in Loch Foyle for two days and now sailed eastwards along the Antrim coast under the command of captain Finnick.

While steaming through the sound of Rathlin the vessel saw large quantities of wreckage. Among the wreckage were boxes of ship's biscuits. The Rose picked up two bales of cloth, which were later identified as part of the cargo of the Taymouth castle.

When passing Torr Bay, captain Finnick could see large wreckage on shore and large stacks of bales. He could also see local inhabitants busy collecting more bales and boxes from the sea.

On the seventh of January the coastguard at Cushendall sent a letter to Messrs. Skinner and company of Glasgow, informing them that a large ship had gone aground at Tor Cor point and was completely under water. A large quantity of boxed and baled goods had been washed ashore, as had two bodies and a lifebuoy marked "Taymouth Castle."

Of the eighteen men who had sailed with the Taymouth Castle, twelve bodies were found. The bodies of Roger Miller, John Fullarton and James Colder were returned to their families for burial. All three were married, John Fullarton only recently so, while James Colder left a widow with three young children.

The remains of Edward McKinley, Sam Celland, John Marshall, David Reid and Thomas Foster and a further four bodies, which were never identified, were buried in Layde Churchyard. The stone marking their final resting-place can still be seen near the gate.

There is evidence that Captain Miller thought the direction of the wind on that night was East by South east when in fact a severe North East gale was blowing.

Ice Houses

An ice house can be seen near Torr Head, beside the road that leads down to the coastguard station.

The Chinese built ice houses around 1000 B.C

In the early nineteenth century they, came into use here. The ice house was a place to hold ice through the summer for cold storage.

It was a deep hole in the ground with a protective roof above both forming an egg shaped space inside. The hole was ten to twelve feet deep and as wide at the top.

Down at the bottom was a melt water pipe with a gully trap to stop the warm air from coming in.

Where the house sat was very important. It was built under trees for shade, on a slope so the melted water could go out easily with the entrance door looking north to escape the sun.

It would need around three months for a 1000 watt electric stove, burning day and night, to melt the ice in an average sized ice house. This is because 75 calories of heat would be needed to melt one gram of ice in a temperature of 0°C into water with the same temperature.

Commercial ice house can still be seen close to salmon fisheries. They are easily recognised by their characteristic sod clad rounded ridge roofs. They were probably used to store fish.

There was also an ice house in Cushendun, behind the village, but it was demolished many years ago.

All the commercial ice houses in Co. Derry and Co. Antrim are very similar in construction and design, which suggests they may have been built to recommended plan with government assistance. However there is no evidence of this.