Downpatrick historic monument to get makeover

Environment Minister Alex Attwood announced today that his Department has begun work to preserve and enhance the Mound of Down, one of Northern Ireland’s largest earthwork monuments.
~ Wednesday, 25 January 2012

The Mound, near Downpatrick, is a large, oval-shaped enclosure larger than four football pitches. In recent years, vegetation and trees growing on the Mound have concealed it from public view and are beginning to threaten the physical integrity and archaeology of the site.

Commenting on the project today, Alex Attwood said: “Even though the Mound of Down is one of the most important monuments that we have, many people are unaware of its existence. To enhance the site and make it more accessible for visitors, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency has begun work to control the trees and vegetation which obscure the site. Accessibility will be improved and new interpretation panels explaining the history of the Mound will also be installed.”

To assist with the work, a geophysical survey of the Mound to study the archaeology and a ground survey to locate any areas harbouring protected wildlife species, have already been completed.

Explaining how the project will be carried out, the Minister said: “The first phase will involve removing some non-native trees such as sycamore, while invasive scrub, such as gorse and brambles will be cut back selectively to reveal the shape of the mound, while leaving unaffected those areas which are havens for wildlife. We will also take great care to protect the archaeology of the site.

“This work will greatly improve the visibility of the Mound from Down Cathedral and from the direction of the Belfast Road, improve the view from the summit and make it easier for visitors to walk around the site. Work is also planned to upgrade the paths within the site.”

The work will take four to six weeks and will be completed by the end of February ahead of the nesting season.

Notes to editors:

1. The enclosure is defined by a massive bank and ditch that encircles what was once a drumlin island in the Quoile Marshes. Within this enclosure there is a second earthwork, a U-shaped mound inside its own enclosing ditch some 55 metres in diameter. This inner mound, which is approximately 12.5 metres high, commands fine views across wide sections of the countryside.
2. The site is most commonly known as the Mound of Down, but it is also known as Dundalethglas, meaning the English Mount, and Rathkeltair. The dún place name element, later Anglicised as down, means ‘fortification’, and it may be the site that gave both the county, and the county town, its name.
3. The site has not yet been subject to archaeological excavation, but it is thought that the large earthwork is a pre-Norman fortification, most likely a royal stronghold of the Dál Fiatach, the ruling dynasty of this part of County Down in the first millennium AD.
4. The Mound of Down is located within an Area of Special Archaeological Interest, a planning designation that recognises the fact that this area is rich in archaeological remains, representing an historic landscape of great antiquity and interest. As part of the routine work of the Department, NIEA seeks to protect these irreplaceable assets, through ownership of some sites and statutory protections of others as Scheduled Historic Monuments or Listed Buildings.
5. John de Courcy, the Anglo-Norman knight who led the Norman advance into Ulster, had his first major (and victorious) battle in Ulster near the Mound in 1177. He may have planned to re-use the site as his own stronghold, and the smaller earthwork may be the remains of an Anglo-Norman castle. However, it is an unusual shape, and if it were a castle it was apparently never finished or else it was later damaged.
6. Following de Courcy’s conquest of this area he endowed the Church with substantial lands, re-granting holdings that it had before his arrival, as well as sponsoring the building of new churches and monasteries. For example, the present Church of Ireland cathedral, near the reputed grave of Saints Patrick, Brigid and Colmcille, is the successor to a Benedictine Abbey founded under de Courcy’s patronage on the site of an ancient monastery.
7. Inch Abbey, just to the north of the Mound of Down, is a Cistercian abbey, also founded by de Courcy, in about 1180.
8. NIEA experts are concerned that the vegetation now covering much of the Mound could be an attractive target for vandalism, particularly the setting of fires. As demonstrated earlier this year in other parts of Northern Ireland, wildfires have the potential to destroy property and wildlife and to disfigure the landscape.
9. NIEA has worked in partnership with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) under its St Patrick and Early Christian Heritage Key Signature Project to improve access to and information on many sites in this area, including Struell Wells and Inch Abbey. NIEA and NITB are in ongoing discussion about further partnerships in presenting these sites to the visiting public.
10. NIEA recognises the importance of the wider landscape context for the sites it manages. For example, a visit to the Mound of Down will involve a bracing walk to get to the top of the site, from which one is rewarded with some spectacular views, including that across the Quoile marshes to Inch Abbey or back to Down Cathedral. The enjoyment of visitors to these historic sites is enhanced by their peace and tranquility, their landscape setting and the wildlife, particularly birds, on the Quoile Marshes.
11. Consequently NIEA is also actively engaged with Down District Council over linking the Mound with paths to the Cathedral, Inch Abbey and the Quoile riverside path leading to Jane’s Shore, the Quoile Pondage and Quoile Castle.
12. All media enquiries should be directed to the DOE Press Office on 028 90256058.Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned. Photographs can be provided on request.