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Giant's Grave is a wedge tomb, a form of megalithic burial monument dating to the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Located in Derry, Northern Ireland, it represents one of the distinctive chambered tombs built by prehistoric communities across the Irish landscape. Wedge tombs are characterised by their wedge-shaped chamber, wider at the entrance and narrowing towards the rear, typically oriented south-eastward. The monument sits upon bedrock of the Argyll Group, metamorphic limestone and marble formed during the Neoproterozoic era, which would have provided a solid foundation and potentially quarryable stone for its construction.
This example demonstrates the practical geological knowledge of its builders, who selected a site where suitable stone was available locally. The surrounding landscape would have been shaped by glaciation, leaving the rolling terrain characteristic of the region. Such monuments served as communal burial places, often containing remains of multiple individuals and grave goods, reflecting the social and spiritual values of Bronze Age and late Neolithic societies.
The site is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 11917, ensuring its preservation as an important record of prehistoric activity in Ulster. Giant's Grave contributes to our understanding of early settlement patterns, religious practice and the technological capabilities of pre-Christian populations in northern Ireland.
Giant's grave. wedge tomb is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 11917. View the official record →
Giant's Grave is a wedge tomb, a form of megalithic burial monument dating to the Neolithic and Bronze Age. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 11917.
Giant's grave. wedge tomb dates from the neo/b.a. period, and is classified as a megalithic tomb. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Giant's grave. wedge 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 11917.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Barrow (2 km), Cup-&-ring-marked stone (2.2 km), Court tomb (2.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Giant's grave. wedge 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.
Giant's grave. wedge tomb stands on Argyll Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is marble, meta-limestone.