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Fundamental Bench Mark at Moyle is a precision survey mark established as part of Britain's systematic levelling network. These fixed points, marked with a horizontal line and broad arrow, served as reference heights for mapmakers and engineers undertaking large-scale surveys. The bench mark was carved into local bedrock belonging to the Cross Slieve Group, a formation of conglomerate and interbedded sandstone dating to the Emsian period of the Lower Devonian era, approximately 407 to 393 million years ago.
The monument's location in the Moyle area of Northern Ireland reflects the geological character of this part of County Antrim, where ancient sedimentary rocks provide stable anchoring points for such survey infrastructure. The particular hardness and durability of the Cross Slieve bedrock made it suitable for receiving and preserving the precise chisel marks that define a fundamental bench mark.
Now protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 16434, this bench mark represents the technical achievement of nineteenth-century British surveying and remains a tangible record of how landscape measurement was conducted before modern satellite positioning. Such marks continue to serve as historical reference points for understanding how our terrain was systematically mapped and recorded.
Fundamental bench mark is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 16434. View the official record →
Fundamental Bench Mark at Moyle is a precision survey mark established as part of Britain's systematic levelling network. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 16434.
Fundamental bench mark 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 16434.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Court mcmartin. castle (0 km), Red bay castle. motte, two baileys and tower-house, curtain wall & possible site of promontory fort (1.7 km), Old castle. house (1.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Fundamental bench mark'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.
Fundamental bench mark stands on Cross Slieve Group, bedrock that formed in the Emsian. The rock here is conglomerate and [subequal/subordinate] sandstone, interbedded.