© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Banbridge Standing Stone is a prehistoric monolith situated in County Down, Northern Ireland. The stone occupies bedrock of the Gala Group, formed during the Telychian period and composed of wacke, a coarse-grained sandstone that would have been available locally to prehistoric communities. Standing stones of this type typically date to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, serving functions ranging from territorial markers to ceremonial foci within the broader landscape.
The monument's survival reflects the durability of its wacke bedrock, which provided both the raw material and the stable geological foundation for its erection. The local geology would have shaped how prehistoric peoples engaged with this location, offering ready stone resources whilst the underlying strata ensured the monument's stability against subsidence and weathering over millennia.
The standing stone is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference number 7704, recognising its significance as a prehistoric monument within the archaeological record of County Down. Its position within the broader settlement and ceremonial patterns of prehistoric Ulster contributes to understanding how early communities organised and marked their territories across the drumlin landscape of this region.
Standing stone is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 7704. View the official record →
Banbridge Standing Stone is a prehistoric monolith situated in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 7704.
Standing stone dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a standing stone. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Standing stone 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 7704.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Oval rath? (6.5 km), Platform rath (7.3 km), Counterscarp rath (8.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Standing stone'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.
Standing stone stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.