Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

On a S-facing slope of rising ground in upland area with good views in all directions, nearby ringfort (TS049-048----) 150m to the SE. Situated on grassland, this is a poorly preserved ringfort, the enclosing features in the W and E sectors survive but elsewhere they have been levelled. Originally the ringfort consisted of a circular area (diam. 40m N-S; 30m E-W) enclosed by an earthen bank (top Wth 2.5m; base Wth 5m; int. H 0.3m; ext. H 1m) and external fosse (base Wth 6m; top Wth 2m; ext. D 0.3m), but now the bank and fosse survives from SW through W to NW only and from ENE through E to SE elsewhere the bank and outer fosse have been levelled. No clear entrance feature visible, small mound (H 0.7-1m; top diam. 5m; base diam. 15m) which appears to be a spoil heap of coal-like material visible in SE quadrant of the ringfort, may be the result of bulldozing of enclosing bank along at S. Large gap in bank at E which may be modern gap (Wth described in 1956 (SMR file) as a circular area (diam. 130 ft [42m] E-W) enclosed by an earthen bank reduced to a scarp and outer fosse (W 15ft [5m]) with no evidence of any levelling of the enclosing bank and fosse and no mention of any mound in SE quadrant of interior. Interior slopes from N to S following the natural slope of the land on which it is situated. Damage to enclosing features of ringfort caused between 1956 and 2003, land was in tillage in 1956 and now in uncultivated grassland.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 26 August 2011