Earthwork in Derrydarragh OR Oakfield

In gently undulating pasture, on the estate/farm of the former Oakfield House. The house is shown on the 1837 OS 6-inch map, but is no longer extant, although part of the associated range of farm buildings survives. Little is known about Oakfield House. The Landed Estates databases records the following: ‘Oakfield (Sligo). In 1786 Wilson notes a house close to Cloverhill House as the seat of Mr. Deboots [?]. This may be Oakfield House. At the time of Griffith's Valuation [1848-64], this property was leased from Captain Richard Gethin by Joseph Holmes. It is described as a herd's house and was valued at £3 10s at the time. An extensive farm is still extant at the site.’ (http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie/LandedEstates; accessed 24/5/2018) This record was included in the SMR (1989) and RMP (1995) as 'earthworks' on the basis of features visible in a black and white aerial photograph (OS 1 3309-10, Roll 160, Pr. 29) (SMR file). In current aerial views, the area encompasses a number of large open fields of pastureland, extending across an area of c. 550m E-W x c. 450m N-S. The features visible in the photo include a regular grid of large rectilinear fields. Several are shown on the 1837 OS 6-inch map, defined by tree-lined field boundaries, which radiate out from Oakfield House. A tree-lined avenue gives access to the house. A number of field fences/walls are extant, still functioning as field boundaries, and are lined by mature beech trees. Many of the smaller sub-divisions visible in aerial view represent field drains, a series of which cut across the relatively lowlying, damper ground in the E half of the area. They are visible now at ground level as shallow grassed-over linear depressions (Wth c. 2m), most barely discernible. It is likely that this field layout, and associated system of field drains, dates to the establishment of the Oakfield House estate, probably to the 18th century. In the SW part of the property, in an area of gently elevated dry ground, a tight arrangement of 4-5 contiguous rectangular field plots, bordered at their SW side by a road, is evident in the aerial photograph; they are not shown on the 1837 and 1940 OS 6-inch maps. They differ from the larger fields in being smaller and narrower (L c. 50-60m NE−SW; Wth 25-30m), and are aligned on a slightly different axis. These field plots have been levelled, but low, grassed-over banks can still be traced at ground level. They appears to represent a small settlement, possibly pre-dating or independent of Oakfield estate, but possibly that of tenants or farmworkers associated with the estate. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 29 May 2018