Enclosure, Bayswell, Co. Kilkenny

Co. Kilkenny |

Enclosures

Enclosure, Bayswell, Co. Kilkenny

On a south-east-facing slope in County Kilkenny, a circular earthwork sits quietly in pasture, grass-covered and easy to miss unless you already know what you are looking at.

The enclosure measures about 33.5 metres across, and what makes it particularly curious is what the bank is made of: stone protrudes from much of its circuit, suggesting that what survives today as a broad, spread earthwork was once a proper stone wall. The process of collapse, with tumble fanning outward over time, has produced a bank that runs anywhere from five to seven and a half metres wide at its base, far broader than a simple earthen construction would be. The monument was first identified not on the ground but from the air, spotted on a Geological Survey of Ireland aerial photograph.

Enclosures of this general type, roughly circular boundaries defining a contained interior, are among the most common monument forms in the Irish landscape, and they span a wide range of periods and purposes, from prehistoric farmsteads to early medieval ringforts. At Bayswell, the picture is complicated by a cropmark, the faint trace visible from the air where a buried ditch affects the growth of overlying vegetation, that runs east to west roughly through the centre of the enclosure and continues beyond it in both directions. A ditch cutting straight through the middle of a circular monument is an unusual detail; it suggests either that the enclosure and the ditch belong to different periods, or that the landscape here has a longer and more layered history than the visible surface implies. The bank has not survived in the south-west quadrant, and within that gap three small depressions, each roughly three to four metres long and only about 0.3 metres deep, are spaced close together; these may be nothing more than the result of tractor activity, though their regularity leaves a small question open.

The site sits below the crest of a low, gently undulating ridge, with open views to the east and south but rising ground blocking sight lines to the north and west. That orientation, south-east-facing and partially sheltered, is a positioning seen repeatedly in early settlement sites across Ireland, where aspect and drainage mattered as much as defensibility.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Enclosure, Bayswell, Co. Kilkenny. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement