Before the Plantation of Ulster, the area of Crawfordsburn was known as Ballymullan. Crawfordsburn originated in the 17th century as a small settlement on an important routeway along North Down. It was named after a stream which flows through the village. It has retained elements of its 17th-century history along its Main Street including the coaching inn. The Sharman-Crawford family developed the village in the 18th and 19th centuries. Crawfordsburn was promoted as a Victorian tourist attraction, particularly for those visitors using the railway to nearby Helens Bay.
Places of interest
The Old Inn, Crawfordsburn has been in existence since the 17th century. Records show this building to have been standing in its present form since 1614. There is evidence that substantial additions were made in the middle of the 18th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Donaghadee was one of the principal cross-channel ports between Ireland and Great Britain. The mail coach making connections with the sailing packet, changed horses at The Old Inn at Crawfordsburn and so it came to be patronised by many notable people including Swift, Tennyson, Thackeray, Dickens and Trollope. It was also frequented by C. S. Lewis.
At present it is used by the owners Crawfordsburn Chosen Few LOL 1091 who originally met in the old school house from 1905 and then bought their current building which is still in use to this day and continues to flourish with increased memberships. The hall is also used by Robert Whiteside Memorial LOL 1229 and Sir Henry Wilson RBP 1104. Also used by different community groups.
Crawfordsburn Country Park, on the southern shores of Belfast Lough, features 3.5 km of coastline and the two best beaches in the Belfast area. The Park also includes Grey Point Fort, a coastal battery and gun emplacement dating from 1904 and updated during World War II. It now houses a military museum.
Crawfordsburn Scout Activity Centre is adjacent to the Country Park. It consists of 22 acres of camping ground including several accommodation buildings. Originally part of the Sharman estate, it opened for Scout camping in October 1948.
People
Samuel Hall-Thompson was a Unionist politician born in Crawfordsburn.
Sport
are an intermediate football club from the nearby town of Bangor, however their home ground Ballywooley is located on the Crawfordsburn Road on the way into the village.
2011 Census
Crawfordsburn is classified by the NI Statistics and Research Agency as being within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area. On Census day there were 587 people living in Crawfordsburn. Of these:
18.2% were aged under 17 years and 27.4% were aged 65 and over
48.5% of the population were male and 51.5% were female
