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Limavady Stone Circle is a prehistoric monument comprising the remains of a megalithic stone circle complex located in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The site stands upon bedrock formed during the Neoproterozoic era, composed of mafic igneous rock from an unnamed intrusion. This ancient geological foundation provided the stone circle's builders with locally available material, though the specific quarrying practices remain undocumented. The monument occupies the landscape at grid reference C663 2605 417.
Stone circles of this type were typically constructed during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods, functioning as ceremonial, ritual or gathering spaces within prehistoric communities. At Limavady, the arrangement of upright stones would have created a visually and spatially significant landmark, legible across the local terrain. The mafic igneous bedrock, darker in appearance than lighter sedimentary stones, would have given the circle a distinctive character within the regional megalithic tradition.
The monument is now recorded and protected by the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities under reference number 12617. As with many stone circles, parts of the structure have been lost or displaced over millennia. The surviving remains nevertheless preserve evidence of prehistoric construction methods and the ceremonial landscape of Neoproterozoic bedrock in early medieval Ulster.
Stone circle/ remains of megalith is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 12617. View the official record →
Limavady Stone Circle is a prehistoric monument comprising the remains of a megalithic stone circle complex located in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 12617.
Stone circle/ remains of megalith dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a stone circle complex. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Stone circle/ remains of megalith 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 12617.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Five stone circles & alignments (1.1 km), Standing stone (1.9 km), Standing stone (2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Stone circle/ remains of megalith'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/ remains of megalith stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Neoproterozoic, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is mafic igneous-rock.