‘Scandal’ that oak road on Mayne Bog, dating to 1200-820 BC, not surveyed or preserved
The Midland bogs have always been places of mystery – vistas of burnt umber that every so often unearth prehistoric time capsules: vats of bog butter, golden hoards, the mummified remains of sacrificial corpses.
In Longford, the Iron Age road unearthed at Corlea Bog has become the county’s prime tourism attraction, with massive oak planks wide enough for two chariots to pass side by side. In 2005, the discovery of a grander and far longer oak road at Mayne Bog in Coole, Co Westmeath, was a cause of great excitement. The National Monuments Service established that it was no mere trackway, measuring up to 6m in width, and dating to 1200-820 BC – a 1,000 years older than Corlea.
Westland Horticulture, extracting peat from the site at the time, were expected to cease work immediately but the National Monuments Service did not issue a preservation order, nor record it in the Register of Historic Monuments.
More:
irishtimes.com/news/environment/bronze-age-road-in-midlands-turned-into-potting-compost-1.2368920
An absolute disgrace :-(
Appalling - 'not my fault guv - honest' :(
When the NMS are so incompetent, what hope is there? Abysmal and depressing.