Enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

In gently undulating, rough stony pasture, located on the W bank of a shallow stream. The enclosure is located c. 100m N of a bend in the stream, where the course of the stream changes its direction of flow from W to N. There are good views to N along the course of the stream. A small turlough is located immediately to SW; this is named Stripe Lough on the 1837 OS 6-inch map but is not shown on the 1919 edition. There is a ridge of rough, heather-covered pasture c. 150m to S, now largely quarried out by a commercial quarry operation.
A roughly D-shaped area (58m NNE–SSW; 36m WNW–ESE) defined on the curving side SWW−NNE by a scarp (H 1.45m at NW), which retains a slight stony internal rim (Wth c. 2m), outside which is a fosse (Wth 3m), with an external bank (Wth 2.4m; int. H 1.4m; ext. H 0.5m) of earth and stone.
On the straight side to E the enclosure is defined by the shallow gully of the N-flowing stream; here the interior of the enclosure simply drops gently to the stream bed. The opposite/E side of the stream is bordered by an earth and stone field bank which follows the course of the stream for some distance, extending beyond the enclosure. This field bank is low and slight along its length, but is somewhat more substantial (Wth 2m; H 0.5m) where it flanks the enclosure.
Roughly mid-way along the W side of the enclosure there is a low section (L c. 4m) of scarp and a corresponding break (W 3.4m) in the outer bank, possibly indicating an original entrance. There are eroded breaks in the scarp and outer bank at NNE and at S.
The W half of the interior is level, but from E of centre there is a gentle slope down towards the stream. In the centre of the interior there is a largely sod-covered, roughly oval heap of stones (7m N–S; 4.7m E–W; H 0.6m), most likely a field clearance heap. At S a portion (7.5m N–S; 12m E–W; D 1.7m) of the scarp and interior has been quarried out. Later field banks merge with the external bank at N and WNW.
Grass cover, with a few hawthorn bushes along the perimeter.

This is an unusual enclosure, and its date and function are uncertain. The relatively substantial enclosing elements on the curving W half contrast markedly with the shallow, easily forded stream and insubstantial bank that define the straight E side; it is possible that the enclosure had a different, more substantial enclosing element on the E side in the past, but if so, there is no trace of it now.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 26 January 2021