Archaeology

Items

Ballaquirk House
A post-medieval house in Laxey.
Ballaquirk Stackyard
The site of a post-medieval farm or stack yard.
Ballaquirk, Farmhill, Keeill Pherick
Medieval chapel, burial ground and lintel graves. The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867-8 shows a chapel and burial ground at this location on Ballaquirk, together with the annotation, 'Site of Chapel & Burial Ground'. The OS particulars stated 'In a field situated a short distance W of Farmhill Cottage is the well-known site of an Ancient Chapel and Burial Ground; the remains of the chapel were removed a few years ago while improving the field. A few weeks ago Dr Oliver, of Douglas, turned up three stone-lined graves containing human skeletons. Authorities quoted are: Mr Piggott, Farmhill Cottage; Dr Oliver, Douglas; Mr Quine.' The Manx Archaeological Survey (1918) described it as 'long ago ploughed over. On one of the maps of the Island this is marked as Keeill Pherick, but the name does not seem to be remembered now.' The Survey does not specify the map it refers to. There are no obvious above-ground remains on the site today.
Ballaquirk, Farmhill, Keeill Pherick
Medieval chapel. The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867-8 shows a chapel and burial ground at this location on Ballaquirk, together with the annotation, 'Site of Chapel & Burial Ground'. The OS particulars stated 'In a field situated a short distance W of Farmhill Cottage is the well-known site of an Ancient Chapel and Burial Ground; the remains of the chapel were removed a few years ago while improving the field.... Authorities quoted are: Mr Piggott, Farmhill Cottage; Dr Oliver, Douglas; Mr Quine.' The Manx Archaeological Survey (1918) described it as 'long ago ploughed over. On one of the maps of the Island this is marked as Keeill Pherick, but the name does not seem to be remembered now.' The Survey does not specify the map it refers to. There are no obvious above-ground remains on the site today.
Ballaquirk, Farmhill, Keeill Pherick
Medieval burial ground. The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867-8 shows a chapel and burial ground at this location on Ballaquirk, together with the annotation, 'Site of Chapel & Burial Ground'. The OS particulars stated 'In a field situated a short distance W of Farmhill Cottage is the well-known site of an Ancient Chapel and Burial Ground; the remains of the chapel were removed a few years ago while improving the field. A few weeks ago Dr Oliver, of Douglas, turned up three stone-lined graves containing human skeletons. Authorities quoted are: Mr Piggott, Farmhill Cottage; Dr Oliver, Douglas; Mr Quine.' The Manx Archaeological Survey (1918) described it as 'long ago ploughed over.' There is no sign of a burial ground enclosure, but the arrangement of the nearby field boundaries suggest that they may have been positioned in deference to a site at this location. There are no obvious above-ground remains on the site today.
Ballaquirk, Farmhill, Keeill Pherick
Medieval lintel graves. The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1867-8 shows a chapel and burial ground at this location on Ballaquirk, together with the annotation, 'Site of Chapel & Burial Ground'. The OS particulars stated 'In a field situated a short distance W of Farmhill Cottage is the well-known site of an Ancient Chapel and Burial Ground; the remains of the chapel were removed a few years ago while improving the field. A few weeks ago Dr Oliver, of Douglas, turned up three stone-lined graves containing human skeletons. Authorities quoted are: Mr Piggott, Farmhill Cottage; Dr Oliver, Douglas; Mr Quine.' The Manx Archaeological Survey (1918) described it as 'long ago ploughed over.' There is no sign of a burial ground enclosure, but the arrangement of the nearby field boundaries suggest that they may have been positioned in deference to a site at this location. There is no record of where Dr Oliver's finds were made, in the absence of which the grid reference relates to the OS location. There are no obvious above-ground remains on the site today.
Ballaradcliffe Burial Cist
Stone cists have been reported in the past as being uncovered whilst digging drainage trenches in the field to the east of the Round Ellan earthwork (PRN 0362.10). The authorities given for this information were the Venerable Archdeacon J.C. Moore. M.A., Mr F. Ratcliffe, and Mr D. Quirk, Kirk Andreas.
Ballaradcliffe Burial Mound
Bronze Age burial mound. The mound has a diameter of 14m and stands about 1.2m high. It is a widely visible landmark despite its low height. A quarry ditch was once apparent around the base of the mound but this is no longer visible. A piece of worked flint has been recovered as a chance find.
Ballaradcliffe Flint Scatter
The findspot of a Mesolithic flint scatter. It included worked flints, flakes, blades and cores. There were flakes of Heavy-blade or Bann type.
Ballarhennie Horsewalk
The site of a post-medieval horsewalk at Ballarhennie farm.
Ballarhenny Mill
The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First Edition mapping of 1870 shows a building at the grid reference provided, together with the annotation, 'T. Mill', denoting a threshing mill. The mill was supplied by a leat and millpond, both of which still survive and provide water to a modern fish farm. The tail race would appear to have been culverted from the gable of the mill to a point just above the cliffline, over which it emptied onto the shore.
Ballarobin House
A post-medieval house.
Ballarobin, Lag Wooillagh Burial Mound
A ditchless grass covered bowl barrow with a diameter of 16.0 metres and an average height of 1.1 metres. No stones are visible and there is no visible trace of any other barrow in the vicinity. The Folk Life Survey recorded a large tumulus on Ballagilbert in the field known locally as Magher ny Grongan. Mr Taggart, the tenant in 1918, said there had been others 'of earth with graves at the bottom' and that this remaining one had 'a circle of large stone round it'.   Mr Connal, a later tenant, had always known this field as Magher ny Grongan and there is a local tradition that the dead from a nearby battle were buried here.   Many years ago archaeologists began an excavation of the mound but were stopped before they completed the work by Mr Taggart who blamed the activity for the mysterious death of some of his cattle.
Ballasalla Abbey Church
A post-medieval church at Ballasalla. The foundation stone of the church was laid by Lady Ridgeway in 1885 and the church was dedicated in October 1897.
Ballasalla Chapel, Wesleyan Methodist
A post-medieval Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Ballasalla village.
Ballasalla Crop Mark
The site of a cropmark of unknown significance seen on aerial photographs.
Ballasalla Horsewalk
The site of a post-medieval horse engine. It stood to the west of a farm building on the 1870 1:2500 Ordnance Survey map, but neither survive today.
Ballasalla Mine
A record for an unspecified post-medieval mine at Ballasalla.
Ballasalla Precinct House
A post-medieval house at Ballasalla.
Ballasalla Primitive Methodist Chapel
Modern chapel. The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First edition mapping shows a chapel at this location, annotated as a Primitive Methodist chapel. The site was acquired for its construction in 1833. The chapel was closed in 1949, though it continued in use as a Sunday school until 1975. Its seats, pulpit and choir pews transferred to Ballafesson and it was sold in 1980. It is now used as a store.
Ballasalla Tannery
A tannery was located at Ballasalla during post-medieval times and is mentioned in Pigot's Directory of 1837.
Ballasalla Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
Modern chapel. The Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First edition mapping shows a chapel at this location, annotated as a Wesleyan Methodist chapel. The chapel dates from 1797. It was replaced by a larger chapel on a new site 70m to the south in 1893. It is now used as a young men's club.
Ballasayle Gorse Mill
A post-medieval gorse mill of dry-stone rectangular construction 4.2 metres x 5.6 metres. Water passed beneath it, driving a horizontal wheel.
Ballasayle Horsewalk
The site of a post-medieval horse engine, recorded as a one-horse machine, with the threshing machine itself substantially intact but the building in a ruinous condition.
Ballaseyr Burial Mound
The site of a ditchless, grass covered bowl barrow which was opened in 1885.  It measured circa 15.9 metres in diameter by 0.4 metres high when recorded in 1957. It has since been lost as a surface feature. A Bronze Age collared urn was found here, of Longworth Secondary Series Form Iron Age, measuring 42.5cm high with a decorated collar and internal rim bevel. (Manx Museum, Accession No. 1954-0596b).