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The Mound is an uncertain earthwork in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, possibly a motte of medieval date. It stands on bedrock composed of Palaeogene extrusive rocks—mafic lava and tuff formed during volcanic activity millions of years before human settlement in Ireland. The dark, hard volcanic geology of this part of Antrim would have presented both challenges and advantages to medieval builders, offering stable foundations but demanding considerable labour to construct fortifications.
The precise purpose of this mound remains undetermined from archaeological evidence alone. If it represents a motte, it would have formed the defensive core of a Norman or Anglo-Norman ringwork castle, consisting of an earth bank and palisade from which to command the surrounding landscape. Such monuments are scattered across Ireland, particularly in areas of English colonial expansion during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
The site is protected as a scheduled monument under Historic Environment Division reference 4061, reflecting its significance as a potential record of medieval settlement and military engineering in Ulster. Its survival as an earthwork on this volcanic bedrock offers the possibility of future archaeological investigation to determine its date, construction sequence and function.
Mound - motte? is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 4061. View the official record →
The Mound is an uncertain earthwork in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, possibly a motte of medieval date. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 4061.
Mound - motte? dates from the uncertain period, and is classified as a mound. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Mound - motte? 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 4061.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including The bohill stone, bochell stone, bowhill stone. round cairn & standing stone (6.4 km), Tullyrusk fort. raised rath & plantation fort (6.8 km), Donald's mound. mound - burial mound? (7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Mound - motte?'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.
Mound - motte? stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.