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Drumfane motte is a medieval motte and bailey earthwork located near Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. This fortification type, comprising an artificial mound with an attached bailey or outer enclosure, represents a characteristic form of Norman and early medieval military architecture. The motte itself would have supported a timber palisade and defensive tower, whilst the bailey provided space for domestic and functional buildings within its own protective ditch and rampart.
The monument sits on bedrock composed of Palaeogene extrusive rocks, specifically mafic lava and tuff formed during the Palaeogene period. This geological foundation would have provided solid ground for the substantial earthworks. The site's location in the lowlands of mid-Antrim places it within a region that saw significant medieval settlement and territorial organisation.
Drumfane motte is protected under the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities, Northern Ireland, listed as monument number 2188. As one of numerous mottes surviving in the Irish landscape, it preserves important physical evidence of the medieval period's defensive and administrative structures in this part of Ulster.
Drumfane motte. motte and bailey is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 2188. View the official record →
Drumfane motte is a medieval motte and bailey earthwork located near Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 2188.
Drumfane motte. motte and bailey dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a motte & bailey. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Drumfane motte. motte and bailey 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 2188.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Ancient field system, including rath & 2 round cairns (c.f. 038 (6.1 km), Ancient field system, including rath & 2 round cairns (c.f. 038 (6.2 km), Ancient field system, including rath & 2 round cairns (c.f. 038 (6.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Drumfane motte. motte and bailey'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.
Drumfane motte. motte and bailey stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.