Episode Nine in a series of 360° videos around the Ards Peninsula & North Down is from Newtownards, which lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough on the Ards Peninsula. In this episode we learn how, in 1606, Newtownards was acquired by Scottish Laird Sir Hugh Montgomery who began rebuilding what would become his principal market town. We visit the fascinating ruins of the Old Priory, which Montgomery used as a temporary residence before designating the building as a church for his new Protestant Scottish tenants. We visit the old market cross which stood in the heart of Sir Hugh Montgomery’s new town and was of crucial importance to the towns prosperity. It is the only surviving 17th century market cross in Northern Ireland.