Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on the summit of a small, steep hillock, immediately W of the River Deel, in gently undulating pasture which formed part of the floodplain of the river, with good views in all directions. Depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as an oval-shaped bivallate enclosure (approx. dims. 37m N-S; 34m E-W). Monument described in 1980 as a roughly circular-shaped area defined by a bank, an intervening fosse and an outer bank. The inner bank is quite high and steep on the exterior, but has almost been reduced to a scarp; it is disturbed at N. A gap (Wth at top 14m; basal Wth 10.8m) at E may represent an entrance. A wide, shallow fosse is present from SE-S-NW and has been infilled from NW-E-SE. A low and broad outer bank is visible from SE-S-NW and has been levelled from NW-E-SE. There are traces of a low outer scarp beyond the outer bank from SE-S-W. The interior has a gentle NW-facing slope. Monument is visible today as an oval-shaped earthwork on Digital Globe aerial photography.
A second possible monument which is not visible today on Digital Globe aerial photography was described in 1980 as following; Situated in the SW corner of a modern field, in low-lying, gently undulating pasture, with good views in all directions. Ringfort (WM021-010----) lies c. 75m to NE. Rectangular-shaped earthwork (approx. dims. 15m NNW-SSE; 10m ENE-WSW) enclosed by a bank and a fosse. The earth and stone bank is low and is almost reduced to a scarp. The fosse is narrow and shallow along the SSE, WSW and NNW sides. There is a wider and deeper fosse along the ENE side of the monument, with a substantial earthen bank outside it. A gap in the ENE side, toward the SSE end may represent an entrance.

Compiled by: Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien

Date of upload: 10 July 2019