Long before Holy Trinity Church was built at Soldierstown, overlooking the Broadwater, there were four ancient churches in the area that now comprises the Parish of Aghalee – they were Old Aghalee, Old Aghagallon, Maghernagaw and Magheramesk.
Earlier still, the River Lagan ran through the Aghalee valley into Lough Neagh. Surely good place to begin our story!
The distinctive features of the landscape around Aghalee result from the late ice-age when a plug of ice over Belfast Lough blocked the path of the River Lagan. The water backed up, forming a large glacial lake across the Maze plain, from Blaris to Soldierstown, which then overflowed at its western end, allowing the River Lagan to flow through Aghalee.
At that time, it is believed that Lough Neagh was elevated 15m above its current level and extended inland much closer to Aghalee. As the river entered the Lough, it lost its power and layers of sediment – sand and gravel – were laid down, forming a small delta. Also, the natural hollow of the Broadwater was most likely scooped out by the retreating ice.
Eventually, the ice relinquished its grasp on Belfast Lough. As land gradually emerged from under the ice and settled into a new equilibrium, most local drainage channels discovered new eastward routes into the Lagan valley – only the Aghalee burn and the Goudy river remain flowing westward into Lough Neagh.
Mrs E.J. Best writes: The action of the ice cap and the associated rivers contributed much to the fertility of the district, leaving deposits of fertile soil. On this rich land, as the climate became warmer, great forests grew and large bogs developed, producing an almost impenetrable barrier of forest and bog from Lough Neagh to Belfast Lough.
