Barrow — ring-barrow in Wattstown

National Monument No. 606. Described in 1978 as following: ‘The low earthen mound roughly circular in plan is surrounded by a rather wide fairly shallow fosse. These is turn are enclosed by a low earthen bank. The mound has been gapped and partly defaced on its eastern side. Located directly SW of the barrow No. 4 (WM011-131----)’ (SMR File 13/06/1978). A second report in 1979 described as the monument as ‘a fairly well preserved circular flat platform surrounded by a wide fosse. The fosse has been disturbed on the eastern side and part of the platform has been cut away and the spoil deposited on the eastern edge of the platform, creating a bank like situation. The fosse is surrounded by a wide low earthen bank. An old field bank runs into the bank on the NE side. This barrow is on sloping ground on the NW side of Frewin Hill, below the summit with panoramic views to North and West’ (SMR File 02/05/1979). A third report from April 1979 recorded that ‘On the S and W the bank is partly denuded and leveled by the old cultivation ridges running W/E up the slope of the hill’ (SMR File). Monument surveyed in 2012 and described by McGuinness (2012, 33-4) as following: ‘Fairly well preserved, roughly circular ring-barrow (diam. 32m N-S) on ground sloping markedly down to W; W side of monument is heavily overgrown. Monument comprised a low central platform (basal diam. 17.6m N-S) surrounded by a broad flat-bottomed ditch, 2.5-4m in width, and an outer bank, 4-4.5m width from base of ditch to ground level outside. Platform rises from 0.48m above base of ditch on E side up to 0.94m above base of ditch on SW side. E side of platform appears flattened as if partly shorn off, and the adjacent ditch is wider here; this alteration appears to be related to a semicircular earthwork that adjoins NE side. Where bank is well-preserved on NNE side it rises up to 1.3m above base of ditch, although on SW side, where it is fairly well preserved, it rises only 0.6m above base of ditch; where bank is very low on E side, it nonetheless rises up to 1.7m above base of ditch. Maximum height of bank above external ground level reaches 1m on WSW side. Maximum depth of ditch below and perpendicular to a line joining top of bank to upper surface of platform ranges from 0.57m at SSE side to 0.96m at E side. There is a bowl-barrow (WM011-131----) in adjacent field 27m to ENE. Running approximately in a semicircle from NE side of the present monument around N side of the bow-barrow, at a distance of no less than 10m from the latter, is a complex earthwork that appears to have been intended to link both monuments together. This earthwork is closely connected with the ring-barrow and either forms part of its original design or, when constructed, necessitated significant alterations to the pre-existing barrow. Bank of ring-barrow has been cut through on NE side by a low, V-shaped ditch, 7-7.5m wide, which joins onto ditch of ring-barrow 0.8m above its base. Where this broad ditch joins onto ditch of barrow, the latter continues its curve and appears to have been widened at the expense of the central platform, which has had its E side shorn off and flattened. On N side of ditch of semicircular earthwork is a low, flat-topped bank 2.5m in width and 0.45m in height, which runs for 40m into the next field, where it ends 12m to NW of the bowl-barrow (WM011-131----); opposite side of the ditch appears to be formed by scarping the slightly higher ground to SE. At point where bank ends to NW of bowl-barrow (WM011-131----) it curves in towards scarp, gently narrowing the ditch. From this point onwards, ditch below scarp is far narrower, being 4.5m across and 1m deep to N of bowl-barrow (WM011-131----), and there are only slight traces of a counterscarp bank beyond it; it runs in an ESE direction for 35m, where, about 16m ENE of the bowl-barrow, it ends, while the scarp itself kinks to E, running for another 17m before swerving to SSE and blending into the natural slope. Ground falls away sharply immediately to NE of this semicircular earthwork and, just beyond end of ditch and scarp, falls away quite steeply to E. Distance from start of earthwork at ring-barrow to E end is c. 75m and, with the ring-barrow at one end, its appearance in aerial photographs is not unlike the profile of an Iron Age brooch’. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by David McGuinness. Date of upload: 25 January 2016