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The Danes Cast is a Neolithic linear earthwork situated near Banbridge in County Down, Northern Ireland. Linear earthworks of this period typically consist of a ditch with an associated bank, often extending for considerable distances across the landscape. Such monuments served various purposes within Neolithic communities, potentially functioning as territorial markers, livestock management systems, or ceremonial boundaries. The Danes Cast represents an important example of Neolithic engineering and landscape modification in Ulster.
The monument lies upon Palaeogene extrusive rocks, predominantly mafic lavas and tuffs that characterise the volcanic geology of the region. This underlying bedrock would have presented a challenging substrate for Neolithic communities to work, yet the linear earthwork was constructed and has survived as an archaeological feature. The volcanic bedrock and surrounding topography shaped both the route and character of this ancient earthwork.
The Danes Cast is protected as a scheduled monument under the Historic Environment Division of the Northern Ireland Department for Communities, recorded under reference 7710. This designation recognises its significance as evidence for Neolithic settlement patterns and land use in the Banbridge area. The monument contributes to understanding how early farming communities engineered their environment and organised the landscape during the Neolithic period.
The danes cast. linear earthwork is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 7710. View the official record →
The Danes Cast is a Neolithic linear earthwork situated near Banbridge in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 7710.
The danes cast. linear earthwork dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a linear earthwork. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
The danes cast. linear earthwork 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 7710.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Platform rath (5.8 km), Platform rath (7.2 km), Two conjoined raths (8.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of The danes cast. linear earthwork'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.
The danes cast. linear earthwork stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.