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Court Tomb is a Neolithic megalithic monument located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Built during the Neolithic period, this court tomb represents one of the characteristic megalithic burial structures of Ireland's earliest farming communities. The monument consists of an open forecourt leading to an internal burial chamber constructed from massive stone slabs, typical of this monument class. Court tombs served as communal burial places for successive generations within settled communities.
The site lies on bedrock formed from Palaeogene extrusive rocks, comprising mafic lavas and tuffs that underlie this part of Antrim. This volcanic geology provided the surrounding landscape and influenced the stone available to the monument's builders. The monument's position within this distinctive geological setting would have been familiar to the Neolithic people who constructed and used the tomb over many centuries.
Today, Court Tomb is protected as a scheduled historic monument under the Historic Environment Division of Northern Ireland, designated under reference 3837. The survival of this structure demonstrates the remarkable durability of megalithic construction and its importance to understanding Neolithic settlement patterns and burial practices in north-east Ireland. The site remains a significant archaeological resource for studying early agricultural societies in the Irish Neolithic.
Court tomb is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 3837. View the official record →
Court Tomb is a Neolithic megalithic monument located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 3837.
Court tomb dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a megalithic tomb. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Court tomb 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 3837.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Platform rath (5.2 km), Chimney stack - ihr 010369 (6 km), Red brick chimney stack (ihr no.10370) (6.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Court tomb's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Court tomb stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.