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Wedge tomb near Cookstown is a Neolithic or Bronze Age megalithic burial monument protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference number 13085. The structure belongs to a distinctive tomb type found predominantly in Ireland and western Britain, characterised by a wedge-shaped chamber that narrows from entrance to rear. These monuments typically date between 3500 and 2500 BC and were constructed to serve as communal burial places for Neolithic and early Bronze Age communities.
The site sits upon bedrock composed of a felsic igneous intrusion of Ordovician to Silurian age, formed during the Silurian period. This ancient volcanic geology underlay the landscape when Neolithic people selected this location for their tomb, choosing stone sources from the local bedrock and surrounding deposits. The Cookstown area's distinctive geological foundation of igneous rocks would have provided suitable materials for the monument's megalithic construction.
The wedge tomb represents a significant phase in the ritual and burial practices of early Irish societies. Such monuments often incorporated multiple burials across their period of use and frequently contained cremated remains alongside whole burials. The survival of this example near Cookstown, positioned at grid reference H7641788599, provides valuable archaeological evidence of prehistoric settlement patterns and ceremonial practices in the north of Ireland.
Wedge tomb is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 13085. View the official record →
Wedge tomb near Cookstown is a Neolithic or Bronze Age megalithic burial monument protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference number 13085.
Wedge tomb dates from the neo/b.a. period, and is classified as a megalithic tomb. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Wedge tomb 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 13085.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Two stone circles, two alignments & cairn (0.9 km), Three stone circles & six alignments (1.8 km), Giant's grave. wedge tomb (1.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Wedge tomb'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.
Wedge tomb stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Ordovician To Silurian, bedrock that formed in the Silurian. The rock here is felsic-rock.