1994:214 - GOLES, Tyrone

The excavation of the stone alignment took place over a two-week period between July 18–29, 1994 and was sponsored by DOE (NI) Environment Service. The investigation was carried out on foot of some disturbance which had occurred on site in the previous months. The monument consisted of a number of orthostats which were aligned roughly north-south with a further stone displaced at the northern end and lying to one side. The stones varied in height, the tallest standing an impressive 2 m tall, and all were examples of locally available stone either sandstone or schist. The site was located on the, south-facing slopes of the upper reaches of the Glenelly river (230m OD) overlooking the confluence with the Goles river and Goles bridge. It enjoyed good views up and down the valley with the summit of Carnanelly (562m OD) prominent to the south.

Prior to excavation the monument consisted of an alignment of nine stones, ranging in height from 2m to 0.25m and extending over a distance of some 16m. The four southern orthostats were thought to have been disturbed to some degree, with tree root growth causing a threat to two others. Excavation showed the extent of disturbance to the four southern stones, which consisted of the mechanical removal of the stones and their replacement, whether in the correct position or order is not known, and cannot now be ascertained.

The trees and roots, which were posing a threat to the stones at the northern end, were removed and the field bank material which had built up against their bases was stripped away revealing the tops of the packing stones.

Excavation of the area to the north of the northernmost surviving upstanding orthostat revealed the presence of a socket, the shape of which makes it almost certain that it is the socket for the stone lying to the west of the alignment. Furthermore, at the extreme northern end of the cutting an orthostat was uncovered which had fallen, probably in antiquity, but whose socket was still partly visible extending out from its south side. Excavation of these two sockets revealed no evidence for a date for the alignment. It was not possible to investigate whether the monument extends further to the north and due to massive tree-root disturbance there was no evidence surviving for the alignment extending to the south. Thus the excavation added two further stones to the alignment and increased its overall length from 15m to 20m making it one of the more impressive alignments in the province.

Restoration
With the approval and indeed encouragement of the landowner, the DOE Environment Service contracted ADS Ltd to reconstruct and consolidate the monument by re-erecting the two stones at the northern end of the site, and stabilising the remaining stones by cementing-in their bases. The question of the presentation of the four southern orthostats, which were known to have been displaced, was strongly debated, but in the end it was decided that they should be set in their current positions, while making it clear that their location was, at best, approximate. Boxes were constructed around the bases of each of the orthostats, each on average 0.3m deep and a rough mix of gravel, sand and cement (4:2:1) was poured in. The boxes were removed after a 24-hour period and allowed to set for a further 24-hour period. In the meantime an area around the site measuring 24m by 4m was fenced and wired off to the landowner's specification, with a 1m wide pathway giving access to the monument from the road to the south.

Subsequently the ground around the stones was backfilled with topsoil to a depth of some 0.2m above the level of the concrete foundations. The soil was compacted, raked and finally re-seeded. It is the intention, once the grass has established itself, to erect a notice which will explain the nature of the site and its place in the archaeology of the local landscape.

Westlink Enterprise Centre, Belfast