Just 30m from the road this very good example of a wedge tomb is easily seen and accessed. From the gate the monument is seen side on, with the entrance aligned roughly southwest. A tree grows somewhat picturesquely from its centre.
All of the roofstones, bar one, are present and in place, including the one covering the large portico. Like many other northern wedge tombs the entrance is split by a centrally set stone. The gallery can be looked into from the rear and is full of cairn rubble.
The gallery is about 3m in length, which when added to the portico gives the tomb a total length of around 4.5m. Several boulders down each side of the mound could be either the remnants of double walling or a closely set kerb .
This is an explanation of (and a bit of a disclaimer for) the coordinates I provide. Where a GPS figure is given this is the master for all other coordinates. According to my Garmin these are quite accurate. Where there is no GPS figure the 6 figure grid reference is master for the others. This may not be very accurate as it could have come from the OS maps and could have been read by eye. Consequently, all other cordinates are going to have inaccuracies. The calculation of Longitude and Latitude uses an algorithm that is not 100% accurate. The long/lat figures are used as a basis for calculating the UTM & ITM coordinates. Consequently, UTM & ITM coordinates are slightly out. UTM is a global coordinate system - Universal Transverse Mercator - that is at the core of the GPS system. ITM is the new coordinate system - Irish Transverse Mercator - that is more accurate and more GPS friendly than the Irish Grid Reference system. This will be used on the next generation of Irish OS maps. |