On paper, Ballygroll is one of the densest prehistoric sites in the north: a Neolithic court tomb, two stone circles, several wedge tombs, a scatter of cairns and a Late Bronze Age barrow, all on one 11-acre ridge near Claudy, spanning the Neolithic right through to the Late Bronze Age. In practice, much of it is buried in heather and peat, and you’ll spend as much time hunting for monuments as looking at them. Reviews are honest about this – some visitors leave a little deflated, finding the prehistoric interest “left to your imagination.” Go knowing that, and it’s a quietly rewarding hour; go expecting a laid-out heritage trail and you’ll be disappointed.
Manage your expectations first
Here’s the honest version. The road sign and the tarmac farm track make the start easy to find. A kissing gate marks the entrance – and that’s about where the help ends. Beyond it the path is mostly overgrown and difficult to follow; there’s no real interpretation on the ground, and even seasoned visitors recommend walking poles to test for firm footing through the heather. The wedge tomb and a cist grave are the easiest to pick out; the stone circles hide in the undergrowth and take patience. On a clear day the views over the Sperrins are genuinely good, and there’s a real pleasure in a site this undiscovered – just don’t come for a polished day out.
What’s actually here
- The court tomb – the most northerly monument, with a V-shaped forecourt and a disturbed capstone bearing faint cup marks cut long before any writing reached Ireland.
- Two stone circles – the western one is a double ring of 18 and 17 stones, a bullseye; the eastern is a partial arrangement of 21 stones, possibly aligned to something on the horizon.
- Wedge tombs and cairns – several wedge tombs and a spread of small cairns across the ridge, most of them low and heather-covered.
- The barrow – excavated in 1978–79 and radiocarbon-dated to around 730 BC, with a pit beneath it from about 1920 BC. No human bone turned up, which points to a ceremonial rather than a burial use.
- Standing stones – two quartz and two schist stones, only spotted in 2008 after a heather burn cleared the ground, hinting at more that’s still hidden.
How it survived
The monuments were first recorded in an Ordnance Survey memoir in 1835, on the flanks of Loughermore Mountain – and much of the wider landscape has been lost since, to farming, peat-cutting and treasure-hunting. In 1815 a landowner who’d heard there was treasure in a ‘Giant’s Grave’ dug in and hauled out two flagstones. The 11-acre core was taken into state care in the 1970s, with the excavations following in 1978–79; the rest of the complex stays deliberately unexcavated, preserved in the peat.
Practical information
- Entry: Free, and open to the public – though as a State Care site, access is occasionally restricted for works, so it’s worth checking before a long drive.
- Getting there: You really need a car. The track is signposted off Ervey Road at Tamnymore (BT47 3EY), nearest town Claudy. There’s room for only a couple of cars at the end of the track, so leave space for the farmer to get by, and close the gate behind you.
- On the ground: No toilets, shop or visitor centre. Wear boots with good grip, bring a waterproof – the ridge is fully exposed – and take walking poles.
Derry~Londonderry and its walls are about twenty minutes north-west if you want to build a half-day around it. But the honest tip for Ballygroll itself: go on a dry, clear day after a spell without rain, when the footing is firmer and you can actually see the Sperrins – the views do half the work here.