PREHISTORIC · TRACKWAY

Trackway

Cookstown, Northern Ireland
NISMR MonID 14823
Period
PREHISTORIC
Site type
TRACKWAY
Nation
Northern Ireland
The designation
Reference
NISMR MonID 14823
Authority
DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)
Grid reference
H7664082650
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR)

Overview

History & significance

Cookstown Trackway is a prehistoric trackway located in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, at grid reference H7664082650. The route lies across bedrock of Silurian-age mafic igneous rock, part of an unnamed intrusion dating to the Ordovician to Silurian period. This ancient geological foundation would have presented a naturally firm surface, suitable for the repeated passage of people and animals across the landscape in prehistoric times.

The trackway represents evidence of sustained movement and communication across the terrain during the prehistoric period. Such routes often developed through long-term use, becoming worn into the surface as generations of travellers followed the same path between settlements, resources or gathering places. The underlying igneous bedrock may have made this particular line of travel more stable and durable than softer ground nearby.

The Cookstown Trackway is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference number 14823, recognising its significance as a record of prehistoric activity and land use in this part of County Tyrone. The monument survives as an archaeological resource documenting patterns of movement and settlement in the early human occupation of Ulster.

Trackway is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 14823. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Trackway?

Cookstown Trackway is a prehistoric trackway located in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, at grid reference H7664082650.

What period does Trackway date from?

Trackway dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a trackway. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Trackway?

Trackway 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 14823.

What other scheduled monuments are near Trackway?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Wedge tomb (0.7 km), Counterscarp rath (2.3 km), The black fort. rath (2.4 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Trackway

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Trackway's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman World
Ireland was never conquered by Rome, so this traces the island's Iron Age kingdoms and its contact with the Roman world.
Historic Records
The 19th-century records of this place: valuations, Ordnance Survey memoirs and topographical accounts.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Trackway

Trackway stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Ordovician To Silurian, bedrock that formed in the Silurian. The rock here is mafic igneous-rock.