Magherafelt

Magherafelt lies west of Lough Neagh amid the farmland of southern Derry. Known as a town in the fifteenth century, it was reshaped during the plantation of Ulster, when London companies acquired land in the district. The Salters' Company became a major landholder here. Its surviving records include a 1615 agreement with an agent for building Magherafelt and nearby Salterstown, followed by a formal grant of land in 1618. The town's market and streets grew within an estate whose management linked local tenants to the London company.