'not easy to find' says Fourwind's visit notes, 'Wellington boots are essential' adds Anthony Weir on the Portal. Why oh why didn't I take heed? This isnt easy to find or access but its very much worth the effort, with plenty of time on your hands you should find it ok but do make sure you've got good boots, not ten yards from the farm gate I was six inches in mud, including the organic kind.
The farmyard is very easy to find, I knocked on the door of the old house and just about five minutes later was giving up and moving on when I heard a very croaky 'hello?!' from the back yard and a blonde girl in her pyjamas and slippers poked her head around the corner. 'Oh the stone with the markings on it? What time is it? God I've got a rotten hangover.. half two in the afternoon.. oh. The stone's over there' 'passage tomb? thats a very fancy name for it.. I think there's something further up the next field'. Oh yes, a great start! Twenty minutes and ten inches of sludge later I still hadnt found the chamber so there was no option but to phone up Fourwinds who kindly obliged with directions by proxy and some handy GPS co-ords.
The fields are all now barbed wired over and the stile has been removed so its a bit tricky, there's also what looks like a motte (marked 'rath' on the map) near the road with trees all around it which had me on a wild goose chase. I think the map actually has the chamber marked as a rath also as there does indeed seem to be a large standing stone where the map has a second one marked.
The chamber is bigger than I pictured and its hard to imagine a roof over it, its very wide in comparison to the height of the chamber, like a smaller Fourknocks with no sub chambers. /the markings are very faded indeed and it took quite a while to bring them out with flash but running your fingers over them gives you a good feel for whats still visible, the moss has claimed most though.
Sess Kilgreen (Cup and Ring Marks / Rock Art) — Fieldnotes
There's good news and bad news for this very nice stone, it has definitely deteriorated over the last number of years but I dont think it as bad as it seems from the photos taken without the aid of water or side lighting. When I arrived the sun was directly on it and there were very few markings visible, once the sun went down they started to appear before my eyes. The good news is that the ground has risen considerably around the base, I'd say about 10-15" of carved surface is safely underground, the rest would be so much clearer if the moss was removed (the bad news). A few hours with a toothbrush would do wonders for this charming slab, if there was a way of doing it without damaging the surface I'd love to see the result.
This animated GIF indicates where you can find some of the carvings, its not meant to be accurate or even close, its just to give your eyes a target to hunt for!
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Posted by CianMcLiam
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