This is the site of a post-medieval gun battery, including the earthworks of a prominent gun emplacement.
The First Edition 1:2500 Ordnance Survey mapping of 1868 shows an almost circular earthwork ranging from approximately 20 to 30 metres in diameter: the centre of the mound is sunken to provide a faintly polygonal gun emplacement, though there is no indication to suggest how many pieces might have been mounted.
In 1955 an OS fieldworker described a slight bank 2 metres wide and 0.2 metres high surrounding the hollow without an obvious break to provide an entrance. Today the top of the mound is somewhat mutilated, with signs that the bank is weakest or most eroded on the south-southwestern side, and it is difficult to be sure if the 1:2500 Ordnance Survey illustration was wholly accurate or somewhat conventionalised.
The battery was built in 1648 by James Stanley, 7th earl of Derby and Lord of Man, on the advice of Sir Arthur Ashton (or Aston). The earl was a staunch Royalist during the Civil War who went to considerable trouble to fortify the Isle of Man against Parliamentary attack. Ashton was an acknowledged artillery specialist who was later killed in the Parliamentary massacre of the defenders of Drogheda in 1649.
The battery was positioned to overlook or command Peel Castle, and supposedly designed to prevent its takeover or occupation by rebel forces; it is too high above sea-level to have functioned conventionally or effectively for coastal defence against shipping.
The site is sometimes referred to as Cronk y Caitnys, which translated from Manx Gaelic means 'hill of the common'.
This is the site of a post-medieval gun battery, including the earthworks of a prominent gun emplacement. The First Edition 1:2500 Ordnance Survey mapping of 1868 shows an almost circular earthwork ranging from approximately 20 to 30m in diameter: the centre of the mound is sunken to provide a faintly polygonal gun emplacement, though there is no indication to suggest how many pieces might have been mounted.
In 1955 an OS fieldworker described a slight bank 2m wide and 0.2m high surrounding the hollow without an obvious break to provide an entrance. Today the top of the mound is somewhat mutilated, with signs that the bank is weakest or most eroded on the south-southwestern side, and it is difficult to be sure if the Ordnance Survey illustration was wholly accurate or somewhat conventionalised.
The battery was built in 1648 by James Stanley, 7th earl of Derby and Lord of Man, on the advice of Sir Arthur Ashton (or Aston). The earl was a staunch Royalist during the Civil War who went to considerable trouble to fortify the Isle of Man against Parliamentary attack. Ashton was an acknowledged artillery specialist who was later killed in the Parliamentary massacre of the defenders of Drogheda in 1649. The battery was positioned to overlook or command Peel Castle, and supposedly designed to prevent its takeover or occupation by rebel forces; it is too high above sea-level to have functioned conventionally or effectively for coastal defence against shipping. The site is sometimes referred to as Cronk y Caitnys, which translated from Manx Gaelic means 'hill of the common'.
The site of the burial ground of an early medieval keeill or chapel which is thought to have been in use between circa AD500 and AD1000. The keeill enclosure is shown on the 1870 1:2500 Ordnance Survey map and measures about 30 metres in diameter.
The site of a Bronze Age barrow. It survives as a ditchless, grass-covered bowl barrow 18.0 metres in diameter surmounted in the southwest by a hedge and a modern road. Its height to the east side is 0.7 metres. It has been eroded by past ploughing.
The possible site of a Late Medieval or early post-medieval Watch and Ward beacon. The site is on a natural rounded hill with a level platform on top. A Mr Sayle remembered a low circular mound of earth and stones here which was removed in the 19th century and that 'many cannon balls' had been found.
The conjectured site of a Neolithic or Bronze Age settlement. Neolithic flint scrapers have been found here (now kept in the Manx Museum) as well as a Neolithic or Bronze Age flint pounder or hammer trimmed roughly to a sphere (Manx Museum Accession No. 627). They were donated by Mr W Faragher.
The conjectured site of a Neolithic or Bronze Age settlement. Neolithic flint scrapers have been found here (now kept in the Manx Museum) as well as a Neolithic or Bronze Age flint pounder or hammer trimmed roughly to a sphere (Manx Museum Accession No. 1954-0627). They were donated by Mr W. Faragher.
This may be the site of a long lost keeill or early medieval chapel, dating to the period AD500 to AD1000. A piece of "tooled sandstone" was found here by Mr Quillan circa 1920.
This may be the site of a circle of large white quartz boulders reported by Miss A.M. Crellin in 1888, where worked flints were found on the surface. The flints are kept at the Manx Museum (Accession No. 1985-0296). The white stones are said to have been been rolled down to the hedge. No trace of a circle or of any quartz boulders is now found in the area and the name Cronk y Clagh Vane is not known locally.
A polished flint adze was found by Mrs Betty Quayle and Dr W.R. Walsh nearby (at SC 329936; Accession No. 1986-0029).
Iron Age settlement.
Set on low lying land, this circular earthwork consists of a raised central mound surrounded by a concentric ditch.
The site has been subject to ploughing, but in the past the mound has been recorded as 38m in diameter, with a flat top of 22m diameter. It is raised an average of 0.8m above the surrounding ground. The ditch is on average 8m wide in the N and NW, and 0.3m deep.
In the SE the mound is mutilated by a SW-NW stream on the other side of which no surface trace of the ditch survives in the adjoining field.
There is no visible trace of an entrance or of stonework.
The site is similar to those excavated by Bersu (PRNs 0007, 0008).
The old parish churchyard, Cronk y Keeillee, at Kirk Michael village is the site of an early keeill, but no trace remains. A number of cross-slabs have been found here, demonstrating its use as a burial place from at least the 11th century onwards.
The old parish churchyard, Cronk y Keeillee, at Kirk Michael village is the site of an early keeill, but no trace remains. A number of cross-slabs have been found here, demonstrating its use as a burial place from at least the 11th century onwards.
The site of an early medieval chapel or keeill, thought to have been in use between AD 500-1000. The chapel is orientated northeast to southwest and is built upon a small hillock. The grass-covered walls include some stones and have been preserved within a pasture field by the farmer. It is shown on the 1869 1:2500 scale Ordnance Survey map.
No surface trace remains of the cemetery enclosure but it is thought to have extended eastward; a human skull was apparently found when the foundations of the present house were dug. Lintel graves have also been noted in the past.
