Welcome to Laichtown

Today I bring you to a magical little village that's been hand-built that not many know about, called Laichtown. It has everything you'd need for a self-sustained village including, a thatched cottage, stables, dairy, community hall, church, shop, school, blacksmith, and it's very own pub (that has no restrictions!), and even has a resident goat, Lucy who is just adorable.

How did this come about you may ask? In 1980 a man named 'JK' decided he wanted to dig a pond in some land he owned behind his house, so he took about digging one out. As he did so he discovered some foundations of old stone buildings. He went about researching what he'd found and came upon a map from the 1800s which had the houses listed and the clachan of 14 houses was named 'Laichtown' 'Scottish for low lying'

Farmworkers would have lived here and they would have been employed by the local farmers. They would have been paid around 2d per day and rented their homes for 10 shillings per year. The cottages would have had earthen floors and up to 12 would have lived in these homes. Each family would have had space to grow vegetables but mainly potatoes which would have supplemented their small wages.

There was a well that would have been the main water supply for the villagers which is beside the pond. The thatched cottage was rebuilt to specification from cottages of that period supplied by Cultra using original stone from the site. The doorstop and hearth are the original.

The rest of the buildings were lovingly built by JK to bring the village back to life, he did this as a hobby and filled all the buildings with original items from that era and designed some of his own engineered machinery, and added some very humourous and unique quirks! Each building is designed for one person only and chairs and equipment are miniature but not to scale. JK built up the original stone houses to around knee height so their footprint can be seen.

A stocked dresser in the Thatched Cottage.

I'd imagine some stories have been told by this fire!

A table and chairs set up and various bits of equipment for farming and living are dotted around shelves and on hooks on walls.

This is the start of the village with the first building being the diary.

Fully functional too!

Every good village needs a community hall.

Equipped with a row of benches, but what's behind the curtain?

A picture of the Pope and King Billy side by side. Both Northern Irish communities catered for!

A horse would be connected to this and would walk around to generate power. The cog in the grass would also turn a cog in the stone building which powered a grain mill. Still working too! JK thought of everything.

Take me to church. How pretty is this?

A row of benches for the congregation and even some stained glass and candle sticks. No details were missed!

The Blacksmiths.

With forge. The work and detail that JK put into every building is visible to see.

The children will need a school and the hardware store is a necessity, even in lockdowns!

An array of stock behind the counter, little surprises hang on the shelves.

Chalkboards for lessons in the school.

Even a fire for a cold winter's day. Notice the inkpots in the desks?

And, the most important building in the village. The one where all the craic is at! Dolly Ward's Grocer and Pub. A firm fav! You know where I'll be ;D

Old-time signs, jars, and bottles.

Gin, cider, wine, beer, and whiskey! Everyone is catered for!

The blacksmiths heated this up with fire to expand the wheel rims for the carts. When the wheel was placed on it then contracted when cooled down. Say hello to Lucy, isn't she a pet :)

I could picture the fairys making use of this space.

An original horse cart. I have to say, I've never seen one of these before - I was fascinated to see this.

JK pictured above passed away in 2008 and has left the village to his family who visits it regularly and keeps it maintained and JK's memory alive.

This village is so so magical, I was captivated by it and mesmerised at how much thought had gone into creating this miniature hamlet. I was buzzing when the current owner sent me a video of the village and asked if I would visit to document it! Let's just say it didn't take me long to make the trip and I'm so glad I did, historical gems like this are so precious.