Barrow — ring-barrow in Jeffrystown

Monument surveyed in 2015 and described by McGuinness (2015, 53) as following: ‘Very large, previously unrecorded ring-barrow (Diam. 44.5m N-S x 47.2m E-W), comprising a broad and very low domed mound (Diam. 32m N-S x 33.7m E-W) surrounded by a circular ditch; there appear to be the slightest traces of a bank outside the ditch, best seen on aerial photographs, but these are very unclear and the bank has been excluded from the overall diameter given above. Ditch is broadly U-shaped to flat-based with basal width of 2.7m, and, on N side, is sunk 0.22m below central mound and 0.78m below external ground level (or the denuded remains of the presumed bank); rubble has been dumped in its SE quadrant in recent times. Central mound is currently sunk 0.47m below external ground level where measured at N side, and must have been proportionately deeper when outer bank was intact. Monument is sited in low-lying basin with higher ground surrounding it, greatly reducing visibility. A second circular earthwork, possibly also a barrow, is visible on aerial photographs in an adjacent field c. 60m to WNW, but this has not yet been examined by the survey-team on the ground. Another barrow lies in Edmondstown (WM013-048----) less than 350m to SE of the present monument, and between the two is a small natural lake or pool, possibly a kettle-hole of glacial origin; between this lake and the present site, which lie 130m apart, is a small stream, its curving channel altered in places for drainage purposes. About 700m to NW in Balreagh is a ruined medieval church in a burial ground (WM013-038----), the‘regular oval enclosure’ surrounding the latter being sufficiently diagnostic for Leo Swan (1988, 26) to identify this as an early medieval ecclesiastical foundation; immediately NW of this church site is a motte (WM013-037----) and close by is a souterrain (WM013-039----)’. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by David McGuinness. Date of upload: 8 February 2016