Alleged earthwork.
An annotated set of 1:10560 Ordnance Survey maps curated by Manx National Heritage records antiquarian observations of archaeological and landscape features.
PMC Kermode (director of the Manx Museum 1922-32) noted 'Encampment wall' along the line of the boundary separating OS Field nos. 1119 and 1120, centred at the grid reference provided.
Kermode also refers elsewhere (Manx Antiquities, 1930) to Oswald's observation (Vestigia, 1860), of 'the indistinct remains of a circular encampment' not far from a burial mound on Ballachrink farm.
No artificial features could be identified by a Royal Commission field inspector in 1955, despite careful observation, although it was suggested that a geological origin could be responsible for the irregular ground surface.
It would appear from a study of the Ordnance Survey 1:2500 mapping of 1867-8 that a field boundary formerly existed along the contour in this locality, dividing OS Field nos. 1116, 11191120 and 1122 into upper and lower parts, and that its removal left irregularities in the surviving boundaries running up and down the slope. It is possible that the ploughed-down remains of this boundary account for the 'glacis type banks' noted in 1955, and Oswald's original observation a century earlier.
No cropmarks are apparent on recent aerial photographs (2016), though it is noted that the land is under permanent pasture.
The findspot of a scatter of Mesolithic 'Bann' type flints from Bell's and adjoining fields, probably the field numbered 2209 and 2210 on the 1869 1:2500 scale Ordnance Survey map.
The findspot of a Neolithic flint scatter which included worked flints and flakes. A Ronaldsway type Neolithic axehead and a hammerstone measuring 7.5 cm were also found.
The site of an early medieval keeill or chapel which would have been in use during the period circa AD500 to AD1000. It is located in a small field known as the 'Chapel Field' to the south of Ballachrink, between the estates of Ballanicholas and Ballacallin. It should not be confused with another keeill site at Ballachrink (PRN 0314.00).
P.M.C. Kermode was refused permission to excavate the site when he visited circa 1909, but he noted that the outline of a rectangular building, measuring approximately 3 metres by 1.8 metres was visible, with the doorway seemingly at the west end. The site was concealed beneath undergrowth but the surrounding enclosure had been ploughed over by that time.
The site of an early medieval keeill or chapel which would have been in use during the period circa AD500 to AD1000.
The site was marked by an uncultivated plot with some stones and a slight mound visible when visited and excavated by P.M.C. Kermode, circa 1909. Almost all the stones of the walls had been removed, but their surrounding banks still partly survived and it was possible to ascertain the approximate external dimensions of 6.4 metres by 4 metres and not more than 4.6 metres by 2.1 metres internally. Against the east bank was a large, perforated slab of clay-slate, 1.2 metres by 0.9 metres, overlying a 'recess' containing some very fine soil with ashes and apparent traces of burial. Adjoining it on the south were six small paving stones which were considered to have formed, with the slab, the base of an altar. At the northwest end of the slab were small stones set on edge.
On the south side of the excavations was a small, well-formed cist (PRN 0314.30) and in the northwest and northeast areas were further cists with ashes and clay, apparently crushed and dissolved pottery. It appeared certain that the keeill had been erected on the site of a Bronze Age burial place as at Ballingan.
The broken top of a socket stone was found near the west end of the excavation.
A polished Neolithic stone axehead found as a result of road widening at Ballachrink, Arbory.
There are no further details and the grid reference is centred on the farmstead.
The axehead is in the Manx National Heritage collections, accession no. 1954-2530.
Medieval chapel, burial ground and lintel grave.
The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867 shows the location of a chapel and burial ground at this location on Skinscoe farm, together with the annotation, 'Site of Chapel & Burial Ground'. The OS shows the enclosure as an earthwork feature, within which the site of the chapel itself is marked.
The Manx Archaeological Survey (1915) states that the site has long been ploughed over, but records the former presence of part of the enclosure bank to the north and west, which may once have been about 40m in diameter. By 1976 a Royal Commission field inspector described the enclosure bank as unsurveyable.
Ploughing activity in 1936 uncovered a single lintel grave at the site, containing a well-preserved adult skeleton. The precise location of the grave was not recorded in detail, so it is not known if it lay within or outside of the line of the enclosure previously delineated.
It is possible that the field boundaries to the south and east may still preserve evidence of the enclosure on that side of the site.
Medieval chapel.
The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867 shows the location of a chapel and burial ground at this location on Skinscoe farm, together with the annotation, 'Site of Chapel & Burial Ground'. The OS marks the site of the chapel itself within the enclosure, which is defined as an earthwork feature.
The Manx Archaeological Survey (1915) states that the site has long been ploughed over, and makes no further comment on the condition of the chapel. By 1976 a Royal Commission field inspector described any surface remains as unsurveyable.
Medieval burial ground.
The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867 shows the location of a chapel and burial ground at this location on Skinscoe farm, together with the annotation, 'Site of Chapel & Burial Ground'. The OS shows the enclosure as an earthwork feature, within which the site of the chapel itself is marked.
The Manx Archaeological Survey (1915) states that the site has long been ploughed over, but records the former presence of part of the enclosure bank to the north and west, which may once have been about 40m in diameter. By 1976 a Royal Commission field inspector described the enclosure bank as unsurveyable.
It is possible that the field boundaries to the south and east may still preserve evidence of the enclosure on that side of the site.
Medieval lintel grave.
The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867 shows the location of a chapel and burial ground at this location on Skinscoe farm, together with the annotation, 'Site of Chapel & Burial Ground'. The OS shows the enclosure as an earthwork feature, within which the site of the chapel itself is marked.
The Manx Archaeological Survey (1915) states that the site has long been ploughed over. Ploughing activity in 1936 uncovered a single lintel grave at the site, containing a well-preserved adult skeleton. The precise location of the grave was not recorded in detail, so it is not known if it lay within or outside of the line of the enclosure previously delineated.
The remains of a possible Neolithic chambered cairn. It is situated in a wedge-shaped area of uncultivated ground alongside a substantial turf and stone boundary dyke which appears to partly overlie the cairn on its east side. It is severely mutilated and overgrown by gorse and bracken but appears to be a round cairn with the possible remains of a cist or chamber, represented by three contiguous stones protruding through the turf slightly off centre on a northeast to southwest axis.
Around the cairn on the west side are a few intermittent kerb stones but alongside the dyke on the east side are two substantial standing stones. One is 0.9 metres high, 0.7 metres wide and 0.3 metres thick and the other slightly larger and approximately 2.0 metres distant from the first.
An impenetrable gorse bush prevented closer examination and it is impossible to say whether the stones represent a portal or part of an enclosing stone circle. The diameter of the cairn is approximate 12.0 metres and it has a maximum height of 0.9 metres. The three stones on the summit protrude about 0.4 metres and extend for 2.5 metres. The general state of the cairn and surrounds suggests that some digging has taken place and the area in general is stony, uncultivated, and bracken covered.