This broken slab was recovered from the wall of the churchyard. The surviving part comprises the lower part of the cross shaft and the undecorated portion of the slab shaped for insertion into a socket stone. On one face the shaft is decorated with ring-chain pattern with twisted interlace to either side. The other face has twist-and-ring on the shaft, with key pattern to the right and the very fragmentary remains of inscription to the left, translated as '...this (cros)s in mem(ory of)..'
This broken shaft of a cross-slab was recognised in 1899: it had been turned upside down, re-shaped and carved with a skull and cross-bones in 1699 and used as a gravestone.
The face bearing the skull and cross-bones also shows the remains of tendril pattern in the panel to the right of the shaft, which bears faint traces of the double twist and ring. The other face preserves remnants of a twist and ring pattern in the panel to the left of the cross shaft. The surviving edge preserves a fragment of a runic inscription translated as, '...(carv)ed runes?'
This small fragment was found in the churchyard in about 1840. The left edge is decorated with a damaged bead moulding. The upper part of the fragment is filled with double-banded plaitwork, while the lower end of the fragment bears the outline of the head and neck of a dragon, all highly reminiscent of Manx Cross 117.
This flake from the face of a slab was found in a garden adjoining the churchyard to the north in 1911. It shows part of the interlace decorating the shaft of a cross; in the panel to the right is a robed female figure with long braided hair, holding in her hand a four-pronged spear or staff. Below her is a tethered horse, on whose back is either a saddle or a pack.
It is tempting to interpret the woman as Hyndla, the wise-woman, and the horse as Grani bearing Sigurd's treasure, but both may have meanings unassociated with Norse mythology.
The edge carries an inscription, but only the broken tops of a few runes now remain, which have been translated as, '...in memory of Mu...'
This small fragment was found loose in the churchyard lychgate, which formerly served as the parish cross shelter, in 1939. It bears a well-executed interlace of double band, and a pelleted band with borders.
Fullers Earth was dug from the upper part of Glen Wyllin valley in the late 19th century, with the workings closed before the First World War. They were restarted by a Mr Alfred E. Grundy from Wigan. The Glen Wyllin Fuller's Earth Company Limited is mentioned in the London Gazette of 18 July 1933.
A Viking spearhead, thought to indicate a furnished Viking Age burial, was 'found when digging a grave in Michael Churchyard, April '95' (ie 1895), according to a label once attached to it. Shetelig gives the date as April 1885. The precise location of the grave is not known and the grid reference provided marks the approximate centre of the graveyard.
The slender iron socketed spear-head belongs to Jan Petersen type K. Its surface is much damaged and the base of the socket, edges and point of the blade are all missing. The artefact forms part of the national collections and bears the accession number 1954-3743.
The site of the 19th century Kirk Michael Lead Mine complex.
Extensive remains of mining activity survive here, including offices at SC33798904, a wheelcase at SC33828907, a shaft at SC33958887 and levels at SC33968882 and SC33978894. The workings are surrounded by quite extensive spoil heaps.
Medieval pinfold.
The parish pinfold for Kirk Michael stood in Glen Wyllin on the inland side of the main road between Peel and Kirk Michael. It is shown and annotated on the Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1869, adjacent to the garden of a property now known as Glen Wyllin House, and was centred at the grid reference provided.
In 1940 the pinfold was described as 27 feet square, and located 20 feet below the level of the main road, at the foot of the embankment on which the highway is supported. Its walls were of stone and the entrance was located at the south end of the east wall (this would have been at approximately SC3153490205). There was no lintel, and the access was by way of a steep path.
The north and east walls have been significantly compromised by improvements to the adjacent road junction, but the line of the west and south walls is still apparent.
Each parish was responsible for the maintenance and repair of its own pinfold. Their origins are uncertain although an early statute of 1422 confirms that the customary laws relating to their maintenance and use were already well established.
Kirk Patrick pinfold is located south of the village near Shenvalla. It is a circular, stone-walled enclosure, measuring approximately 12 metres in diameter with walls almost 2 metres high. The walls are built in courses of loose slate withn an entrance facing west. Mortar has been used for outside facing and around the stonework at the entrance. There are no coping or lintel stones.
Historically, each parish was responsible for the maintenance and repair of its own pinfold, but their origins are uncertain. A statute of 1422 confirms that they existed under customary laws which were already long established by the 15th century.
The site of an early medieval 'lintel grave' cemetery was discovered in March 1976 by Mr I. Parker, Glentraugh Farm who found a slate-lined grave containing a skull during ploughing. An emergency excavation undertaken by Dr. Larch S. Garrard uncovered a total of 18 graves and it is probable that there are more in the area.
The site of 'stone cists' shown on the 1870 1:2500 scale Ordnance Survey map are probably part of the same cemetery. The grave pits had been cut into the slate rock and lined with slate slabs. After burial the graves were covered with slate 'lintels'. Fifteen graves produced skeletal remains but there were no grave goods or other means of dating the site
The site of the post-medieval Kirk Santon pinfold, which is found alongside an old trackway, west of Ballavar Farm.
The pinfold is roughly rectangular in plan and measures 13.5 metres in length and up to 10 metres in width. It is defined by sod hedge walling with mortared masonry around its entrance in the centre of the south wall. There are lintel stones on the walls.
Each parish was responsible for the maintenance and repair of its own pinfold, but their origins are uncertain although a statute of 1422 confirms relevant laws were already long established by that time.
The site of a possible chapel ('keeill') and burial ground listed by P.M.C. Kermode on the strength of the place-names 'Kirkhill' and 'Claghyn ny Killey'.
While there is no certain evidence or tradition to show the exact site of the keeill, J.R. Bruce, writing in 1968, noted that graves had been turned up in recent years by J. Lowey (occupying farmer) in the 'Big Field', while 'flat stones on edge' had hindered ploughing. Reportedly many skeletons were dug up from an old graveyard on an 'uncultivated spot on the farm' before 1904.
The 'Big Field' was examined in 1963-65 under various crop-conditions, but nothing has been seen to indicate the whereabouts of the burial ground.
A Mesolithic flint site with Neolithic elements is marked on the distribution map at Kirkill, Malew, in the vicinity of SC 261734. The name does not exist in the area, although Kerrowkeil may be the location referred to, but it is more likely to be an erroneous siting of the Mesolithic site at Kirkill, Rushen.
The site of a possible chapel ('keeill') and burial ground listed by Kermode on the strength of the place-names 'Kirkhill' and 'Claghyn ny Killey'.
There is no certain evidence or tradition to show the exact site of the chapel but J.R. Bruce writing in 1968 recorded that graves had been turned up recently by J. Lowey (occupying farmer) in the 'Big Field', while 'flat stones on edge' had hindered ploughing. Reportedly many skeletons were dug up from an old graveyard on an 'uncultivated spot on the farm' before 1904.
The 'Big Field' was examined by Bruce in 1963-65 under various crop-conditions, but nothing was seen to indicate the whereabouts of the chapel or burial ground.
A late Mesolithic flint site of Clark's 'Bann River Culture' is shown on his distribution map at Kirkill, including a single microlith, two broken leaf-shaped arrowheads and tanged flakes now in the Manx Museum.
P.C. Woodman, quoting Clark, refers to Kirkill but places it on his map in the vicinity of SC 261734 in Malew, (possibly Kerrowkeil) which is likely to be an erroneous siting.
A late Mesolithic flint site of Clark's 'Bann River Culture' is shown on his distribution map at Kirkill, including a single microlith, two broken leaf-shaped arrowheads and tanged flakes now in the Manx Museum.
The flints from Kirkill also contain a Neolithic element, i.e. arrowheads and hollow scrapers, and are listed by P.C. Woodman (quoting Clark), but he locates them on his map in the vicinity of SC 261734 in Malew at Kerrowkeil, possibly in error for Kirkill.
A late Mesolithic flint site of Clark's 'Bann River Culture' is shown on his distribution map at Kirkill, including a single microlith, two broken leaf-shaped arrowheads and tanged flakes now in the Manx Museum.
P.C. Woodman, quoting Clark, refers to Kirkill but places it on his map in the vicinity of SC261734 in Malew, (possibly Kerrowkeil) which is likely to be an erroneous siting.
The flints from Kirkill also contained a Neolithic element, i.e. arrowheads and hollow scrapers, and are listed by Woodman.
A late Mesolithic flint site of Clark's 'Bann River Culture' is shown on his distribution map at Kirkill, including a single microlith, two broken leaf-shaped arrowheads and tanged flakes now in the Manx Museum.
P.C. Woodman, quoting Clark, refers to Kirkill but places it on his map in the vicinity of SC 261734 in Malew, (possibly Kerrowkeil) which is likely to be an erroneous siting.
Iron Age ringfort.
The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1868 shows an incomplete sub-circular earthwork at this location, annotated 'Fort (Remains of)'.
The site is shown on poor or rough agricultural land with a gently sloping SE aspect. At the time of the Survey a boundary, running WNW-ESE, divided the site between two fields, approximately one third of the site lying to the north of the boundary and two thirds to the south.
The Survey shows an elliptical central platform, with maximum and minimum dimensions of approximately 34 and 28m. The platform is not clearly defined on the SE side, perhaps as a result of agricultural operations.
The Survey shows a ditch around the central platform, most clearly defined on the west side, where it is around 8m wide and for a short distance has a narrow outer lip. The outer edge of the ditch is shown, unhachured, on the SE side where otherwise the central platform and ditch are not differentiated.
When visited in 1938, JR Bruce recorded the central mound as being 130' (40m) in diameter, measured to the centre of the ditch, and the ditch as 1' deep and up to 40' (12m) wide, suggesting that its width was the result of erosion; he nevertheless recorded the survival of the outer lip on the west side, much as the OS depicted it 70 years previously.
OS field inspectors in 1955 estimated the central platform to have once been up to 30m in diameter and raised 0.6m above the surrounding field, whilst the ditch was then 7m wide and 0.3m deep. When Bruce subsequently revisited the site in 1964 he described the remains as quite perceptible, but by the early 1970s they were imperceptible.
Bruce's observations in 1964 also recorded the farmer, John Lowey of Lower Kirkill, recalling that a predecessor, William Corrin, had told him that, when digging a drain in the field in c. 1914, he had found 'old timber, like trunks of small trees' on the site.
The site is now not visible at ground level, and the boundary which once crossed it has also been removed. Some differentiation in vegetation is nevertheless still apparent on aerial photographs in 2016.
