The historic north-bank district above the river, dominated by the four-faced clock tower of St Anne's. Shandon was Cork's butter-trading and wool district through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; the steep lanes of small terraced houses, the old butter exchange (now a craft and design centre), and the surviving cooperages and warehouses give the area a more working character than the polished centre south of the river. The hill is steep and the views from the top are some of the best in Cork.