The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - and East Belfast
The people of east Belfast have a lot to shout about – it’s the birthplace of one of the greatest footballers (George Best), the famous ship (Titanic) and the Christian author (C S Lewis) of Narnia fame. It is widely believed that the imaginary world of Narnia was inspired by Lewis’ childhood in east Belfast. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe has recently been released as a film and is currently showing at cinemas nationwide, and is expected to be one of the biggest box office draws of recent times.
C S Lewis was baptised by his grandfather Thomas Hamilton, in 1899. Hamilton was the first rector of St Mark’s, Dundela. Some time later the Lewis family came to live in a detached Edwardian home which still stands on the Circular Road in east Belfast. Living nearby the young Lewis frequently visited his grandfather in the Old Rectory, which still stands in the grounds of the church. The old rectory has an ornate handle in the shape of a lion’s head just at the right head-height for a young child and it is thought that this was the direct inspiration for the character of Aslan in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. This book, recently made into a film, describes a war in a frozen fantasy land between the forces of darkness, led by the White witch, and the forces of good, led by the lion Aslan.
Although CS Lewis exchanged the east Belfast landscape for life in England after his mother died Northern Ireland always remained in his heart and he often returned for holidays. In his autobiography, ‘Surprised by Joy’, Lewis wrote: “Heaven is Oxford lifted and placed in the middle of the County Down.”
C S Lewis and his brother, Warren, presented a window to St Mark’s in 1935 in memory of their father and mother and travelled to Belfast to see it completed.
A visit to St Mark’s website
www.dundela.down.anglican.org
is recommended for anyone wanting to find out about C S Lewis.