Enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

In rough upland pasture, located on a ridge-top terrace or narrow plateau on the E flank of the Bricklieve Mountains. The location gives excellent views over Lough Arrow. On its E side the enclosure utilises a slight natural kink or expansion at the break of slope of the terrace; from here the ground drops c. 2m to a lower terrace, and then drops more steeply in a series of further terraces before levelling out at the shores of Lough Arrow. To W of the enclosure, the plateau drops gently into a shallow valley of rush-grown, boggy ground, beyond which there are views of undulating upland terrain and higher ridges of the Bricklieves.
The enclosure consists of a circular area (diam. 16m E−W; 16m N−S) defined by a low, moss- and heather-covered stone bank (Wth c. 2m; H 0.3-0.4m). The bank is poorly preserved, slumped and gapped. A short stretch at NE, denuded of its thin covering of peaty soil, reveals that it consists of a concentration of small limestone stones. A break (Wth 2m) at SE may be an original entrance. The interior is grassy, flat and featureless, with a single hawthorn tree growing in the NW quadrant. A few hawthorn bushes grow on the stone bank/perimeter at SE−S.

Attached images:
SL040-250----_01: Enclosure viewed from NW
SL040-250----_02: Enclosure viewed from SSE

Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 6 July 2018