Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

In a grove of beech trees, located on a rise in an area of rolling pastureland, part of the Mount Falcon demesne.
This is shown on the 1838 OS 6-inch map an unnamed, circular embanked enclosure; by the time of the 1930 edition it is shown as a circular enclosure, named ‘Rathmorrow’, and is indicated as ‘Grave Yard (Private)’ (MA039-103002-).
Roughly circular area (int. diam. 20m N−S; 24m E−W) enclosed by a substantial earthen bank (Wth 5-6.5m). The bank has a broadly sloping internal face (int. H 1.2m). Its exterior face is cut to the vertical, and faced with a mortared stone wall (H 1.3-1.4) which rises to the full height of the bank, and encircles its entire circuit. There is a break (Wth 2.5-3m) in the bank at E, perhaps an original entrance. It is blocked now on it outer edge by the encircling stone wall, but a stile built into the wall allows access to the interior.
Immediately outside the enclosure at S–NW is a flat space (Wth 3.5-4m, 2m at NW) bordered on its outer edge by a low rise (Wth 2.4; int. H 0.1m; ext. H 0.35m). In the level interior of the enclosure there are rows of 19th- and 20th-centuries headstones.
This enclosure is probably the remains of a rath, the interior and enclosing bank of which were remodelled in the mid-late 19th-century to convert it into a burial ground.
Two yew trees grow in the interior, as well as a few hawthorn and sycamore trees. Sycamore trees ring the bank. There is a court tomb (MA039-104----) 15m to N.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 1 April 2020