The enclosure measures roughly 80 metres across in total, with an internal area of approximately 65 metres in diameter defined by an earthen bank and an outer fosse, the fosse being the ditch that typically runs alongside such a bank to reinforce both its defensive and boundary-marking function. A small pond lies adjacent to the outer bank on the northern side, which may reflect the way the original ditch has partially filled and held water over the centuries.

The site appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1839, which means cartographers recorded it when the earthwork was already a well-established feature of the landscape, and it was noted again on the 1947 revision of the 25-inch OS map. Circular enclosures of this kind are among the most common monument types in the Irish countryside, usually interpreted as ringforts, the enclosed farmsteads of early medieval Ireland occupied roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. The bank-and-fosse arrangement at Newlands is consistent with that tradition, though without excavation it is difficult to say more precisely what the interior once contained or when the site was last actively used.

A public road runs east to west along the southern edge of the monument, so the enclosure is visible from the roadside without any need to enter private land. Field boundaries close in on the northern, eastern, and western sides, giving the site a somewhat hemmed-in quality, with tillage fields pressing against it on at least two sides. The pond to the north is worth noting as a detail that distinguishes this particular enclosure from the many similar earthworks scattered across the county.