Grand Parade

Grand Parade. . , Fourteen sycamores , There are 14 sycamore trees on the Grand Parade, one for each of the 13 Apprentice Boys and one for James Morrison, their look-out on Ferryquay Gate. The fruit of the sycamore are like bunches of keys. They represent the keys of the city with which the Apprentice Boys locked the gates., Parading and promenading , In the 18th century the city garrison used this part of the walls for exercises and parades. It later became fashionable to promenade along the Grand Parade which was laid out as a garden. Strollers averted their eyes from the smoke and grime of the houses of Nailor's Row that clung to the steep slope between the Royal and Double Bastions., Fortress on the hill , In 1600 Sir Henry Docwra chose this hill as the site for his main fort. It gave him an excellent vantage point from which to watch the surrounding country. He circled the fort and his own house with earthen walls. Outside them he built a hospital and a gallows. A smaller fort defended access from the river. After his troops became ill from drinking the water, he also built a brewery by the river., A holy place since 546 AD , People may have worshipped here for over 1400 years. According to tradition St. Colm Cille built a monastery on the top of the hill, replaced in the late 13th century by an Augustinian abbey. Though largely in ruins, the abbey served as the first church for the Plantation settlers until St. Columb's Cathedral was completed in 1633. Thereafter St. Augustine's became known as 'the little chapel'. The present building dates from 1872.