Beaghmore Megaliths

Cookstown, United Kingdom

Beaghmore is a complex of early Bronze Age megalithic features, stone circles and cairns. The site was discovered by George Barnett in the late 1930s during peat cutting when 1,269 stones were uncovered, and partially excavated in 1945–1949 when it was taken into state care. It was also excavated again in 1965. Hearths and deposits of flint tools were discovered and have been carbon dated to 2900-2600BC. Several of the stone rows run over the tumbled walls of field structures which also date from the Neolithic period. Excavation of one of the cairns revealed a polished porcellanite axe, which may have originated from the Tievebulliagh axe factory, some 70 miles away in County Antrim. The largest cairn featured a central pit containing an oak branch.

There are seven low stone circles of different sizes, six of which are paired, twelve cairns and ten stone rows. The circles are between 10 and 20m in diameter, and are associated with earlier burial cairns and alignments of stone rows lead towards them. The stones are small with few more than 0.5m in height and the circles are distorted, suggesting they are related to kerbs surrounding some megalithic tombs. A typical feature of the stone rows is a high and low arrangement where short rows of tall stones run beside much longer rows of small stones. The stone rows radiate from the circles in a roughly north-east direction.

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Details

Founded: 2900-2600 BCE
Category: Prehistoric and archaeological sites in United Kingdom

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Sara Knight (2 years ago)
Beautiful well-kept area, easily accessible off the road, free to access. Be sure to grab a yummy coffee from the coffee truck across the street!
Glenda English (2 years ago)
Well maintained, worth a look. Don't forget to grab a coffee from across the road from the hidden cafe, delicious ?? Close to Davagh forest, an interesting stop off on the way.
Hugh Kernohan (2 years ago)
7 stone circles. Foud by locals when cutting peat for household fires. Grass well cut. Some notice boards to explain what the universities think. Very nice walk on plastic boards to Devar Forest. Quite flat and wheel friendly. Lots of Geocaches hidden in area. Good parking. FREE entry
Colin Graham (2 years ago)
Stunning area with parking right next to the entrance
angela doran (2 years ago)
Lovely place for a dander, there's a night walking trail across the road as well, didn't have time to do it but there's is a link on the sign to get more information
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