BRONZE AGE · BARROW

Barrow

Derry, Northern Ireland
NISMR MonID 11918
Period
BRONZE AGE
Site type
BARROW
Nation
Northern Ireland
The designation
Reference
NISMR MonID 11918
Authority
DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Grid reference
C5535016050
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)

Overview

History & significance

Derry Barrow is a Bronze Age burial mound situated in County Derry, Northern Ireland. The monument occupies land underlain by psammite and pelite bedrock of the Southern Highland Group, deposits laid down during the Middle Cambrian period. This ancient geology forms part of the Sperrin uplands characteristic of the region, providing a stable foundation for the mound's construction and preservation over millennia.

The barrow represents a funerary tradition common across Ireland and Britain during the Bronze Age, when such earthen mounds served as prominent burial monuments for significant individuals. The site's location in the Derry landscape would have been deliberately chosen, likely for its visibility within the surrounding terrain. The precise construction details and any grave goods within remain archaeologically unrecorded in available sources.

The monument is protected as a scheduled historic monument by the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities, recorded under reference number 11918. This statutory protection recognises its importance as evidence of Bronze Age burial practices and settlement patterns in the north of Ireland. The barrow survives as a tangible link to prehistoric communities who inhabited and shaped this landscape.

Barrow is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 11918. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Barrow?

Derry Barrow is a Bronze Age burial mound situated in County Derry, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 11918.

What period does Barrow date from?

Barrow dates from the bronze age period, and is classified as a barrow. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Barrow?

Barrow is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 11918.

What other scheduled monuments are near Barrow?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Court tomb (0.8 km), Giant's grave. wedge tomb (2 km), Cup-&-ring-marked stone (4.1 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Barrow

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Barrow's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman World
Ireland was never conquered by Rome, so this traces the island's Iron Age kingdoms and its contact with the Roman world.
Historic Records
The 19th-century records of this place: valuations, Ordnance Survey memoirs and topographical accounts.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Barrow

Barrow stands on Southern Highland Group, bedrock that formed in the Middle Cambrian. The rock here is psammite and pelite.