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Down Stone Circle is a neolithic monument comprising a stone circle, pit and cist with cremation burial, located in County Down, Northern Ireland. The site lies on bedrock of the Hawick Group wacke, a hard sedimentary stone formed during the Wenlock period of the Silurian. This geological foundation has helped preserve the monument through millennia, with the dense wacke providing a stable base for the standing stones and subsurface features.
The stone circle itself represents a ritual and ceremonial focus typical of neolithic communities in Ireland and Britain, whilst the associated pit and cist indicate this was a significant burial site. The cremation deposit found within the cist demonstrates the formal treatment of the dead, placing this monument within the broader neolithic burial tradition. Such cists, constructed from stone slabs, were carefully positioned to protect their cremated contents from disturbance.
Now protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 7592, Down Stone Circle remains an important record of neolithic funerary practice and belief. The monument's survival on the Hawick Group bedrock has allowed later generations to trace the ritual landscape of early farming communities in this part of Ulster. The combination of ceremonial stone arrangement and burial deposit makes this site valuable for understanding neolithic social organisation and spiritual practice.
Stone circle, pit & cist with cremation burial is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 7592. View the official record →
Down Stone Circle is a neolithic monument comprising a stone circle, pit and cist with cremation burial, located in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 7592.
Stone circle, pit & cist with cremation burial dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a stone circle. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Stone circle, pit & cist with cremation burial 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 7592.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Raised rath (2.6 km), Portal tomb or cist burial (2.7 km), Ballyalton court cairn. court tomb (3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Stone circle, pit & cist with cremation burial'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.
Stone circle, pit & cist with cremation burial stands on Hawick Group, bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is wacke.