Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, located on a low natural elevation, bordered to E and S by an expanse of lowlying boggy ground. Raised circular area (25m N−S; c. 27m E−W) defined at S−SW and NW−NNE by remnant of an earthen bank (Wth 4m; int. H 0.35m; ext. H 1.8m at S), reduced elsewhere to a scarp (H 1.3m at E), and enclosed externally by traces of a fosse and outer bank. The inner bank has a pronounced, steep external slope but retains only a low internal lip. A section (L 10m) of the scarp at NNE−E has been partly levelled and graded to a low ramp to allow easier access to the interior, and this appears to conceal the most likely site of the original entrance. There is a clearly defined section of fosse (Wth c. 3m) at S−SW, bordered externally by a bank (Wth c. 3m; int. H 0.8m; ext. H 0.6m). Here, a narrow berm (Wth c. 2m) intervenes between the base of the inner bank and the fosse but it is unclear to what extent this is original. It is also unclear as to whether this section of fosse, which is largely engulfed in brambles, may have been disturbed in the recent past. Elsewhere around the circuit, the fosse and external bank are evident only as a very slight surface depression bordered by a slight external rise or cropmark.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 17 June 2016