The magnificent primary stone row stretching out up the hill side
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March 27, 2022
I assume this is the same kerbed cairn, just looks slightly different (apologies all photos are washed out)
A lot going on, on this small hillside with a number of cairns, circles and stone row
Stone row leading its way to this most interesting circle just North of Brisworthy
Rather taken by surprise at the size of this circle and the wonderful atmosphere despite being relatively close to civilisation, a place to linger
There is a small plantation to the west of Brisworthy with a rather deeply rutted car park (need good ground clearance or 4x4), easy to find from here
Looking south-eastwards along the coastline from Dunraven... this provides ample scope for a series of cliff/promontory forts... the next in line a small, yet wondrous enclosure at Cwm Bach; then a powerful site at Nash Point.....
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The main western defensive bank from within the enclosure..
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Looking east along the ‘Heritage Coast’. Plenty more ‘forts that-a-way, too.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The western defences are really rather impressive for a cliff fort. Eroded, too.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Clearly, the western defences were intended to face the full force of any attack...
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
For obvious reasons, this is what is known as a ‘cliff fort’. The enclosure occupies the majority of the cliff top, much more presumably having been reclaimed by the sea.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
March 25, 2022
8 years on, Cat Cairn 2 is now surrounded by birch scrub and gorse, and not so easy to locate.
Image credit: Les Hamilton
March 24, 2022
This is a sorry sight these days. We drove along the farm track – I knew there were farm buildings close by – and we were ready to ask for permission. We met a farm worker, not the owner, and he said go ahead. The photo on the NISMR shows the lintel and jambstones in a clearing and I had hopes that we were in for a bit of a treat. Alas no – were we here any later in the year it seems that we wouldn’t get to see anything.
The beautiful altar-like entrance, with one metre tall entrance jambstones both flanked by other supporting orthostats, all covered by a lintel, is all that’s visible and identifiable. The whole area is trashy, unkempt and unloved. On the plan at the NISMR, three stones form the southern gallery walls, with a laterally placed stone forming a sill and separating it into two chambers and then a backstone sealing the rear. All this was hard to check out with all the growth and detritus about the place.
It was one of those places that I didn’t feel like hanging around in, frustrated that the landowners so transparently don’t seem to care about the monument on their land, but not wishing to have a confrontation about the neglect.
March 23, 2022
Picture of the sunset march 19th 2022, from castercliff hillfort looking west towards Pendle Hill
Image credit: sunset near vernal equinox
In a field beside a road with fast moving traffic, I don’t have a lot to say about this as I only viewed it from the roadside. It’s the lesser one of two in the townland, the better one being about a kilometre west of north of here. There do seem to be few socketed stones but any circular form is difficult to ascertain from the bank at the edge of the field. Another of the many stone circles in the Tyrone/Fermanagh/Derry region.