UNCERTAIN · PLATFORM SITE

Earthwork

Dungannon, Northern Ireland
NISMR MonID 15680
Period
UNCERTAIN
Site type
PLATFORM SITE
Nation
Northern Ireland
The designation
Reference
NISMR MonID 15680
Authority
DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Grid reference
H5050051060
Boundary

Scheduled area

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

Overview

History & significance

Dungannon Earthwork is an uncertain platform site located near Dungannon in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The monument consists of an earthen platform whose original function remains unresolved, though its artificial construction is evident from the landscape. The site rests upon bedrock of the Tyrone Group, a Visean-age formation composed of limestone, mudstone, sandstone and siltstone interspersed with subordinate deposits of chert, coal and conglomerate. This underlying geology would have influenced both the construction and long-term stability of the earthwork.

The platform's precise purpose—whether defensive, ceremonial, residential or agricultural—cannot be determined from its surviving form alone. The absence of diagnostic features or recorded artefactual evidence places it among those earthworks whose interpretation remains open to further investigation. Its uncertain classification reflects the challenges of dating and understanding undocumented earthworks in the region without excavation or surface survey data.

The site is protected under the Historic Environment Division's statutory designation system (reference 15680), ensuring its preservation as part of Northern Ireland's archaeological heritage. This protection recognises the monument's potential to contribute to understanding of local land use and settlement patterns during periods when such platform sites were constructed.

Earthwork is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 15680. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Earthwork?

Dungannon Earthwork is an uncertain platform site located near Dungannon in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 15680.

What period does Earthwork date from?

Earthwork dates from the uncertain period, and is classified as a platform site. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Earthwork?

Earthwork 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 15680.

What other scheduled monuments are near Earthwork?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Aghintain castle, aughentaine castle. c17th fortified house & bawn (0.8 km), Abbey stone. cross-carved standing stone (1.3 km), Hillfort (3.1 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Earthwork

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Earthwork'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 Earthwork

Earthwork stands on Tyrone Group, bedrock that formed in the Visean. The rock here is limestone, mudstone, sandstone and siltstone, with subordinate chert, coal and conglomerate.