What is recorded here

Grass grows thick above the buried dead, but beneath that green surface lie rows of forgotten people who waited out centuries of rain and plough. The field has kept their bones long enough to become a legend, yet no monument remains to tell their names. What is missing is not the death itself but the witness: someone must still be able to point at the ground and remember that it belongs to the dead.

According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 197), 'At Hally's, in Swiftsheath, there is a five-acre field called the Rillig, i.e., graveyard. Human skulls and bones have been frequently dug up here. A wooden coffin was unearthed on the spot, about 1810; also, a cannon-ball 7lb. weight. There is no trace of a church'. Local tradition places the burial ground near a pond SW of Hally's farm, possibly in the small field (dims. c. 78m NE-SW; c. 65m NW-SE) immediately N of the pond. The field boundaries have since been removed and a farm roadway runs along the N and W edge of the field. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 14 January 2019

This remains an important historical record, but the official description says the monument is no longer visible or has been destroyed. The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.