TORR HEAD and RATHLIN — Ward Boundary Map

Daniel Kirkpatrick

TORR HEAD and RATHLIN Heritage Profile

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By

Daniel Kirkpatrick

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By | Compiled 2026-05-05 | N08000437
836 historic sites 72 scheduled monuments 118 listed buildings 9 archaeological periods

TORR HEAD and RATHLIN covers 772.9 km² in Northern Ireland. With 836 historic sites and 72 scheduled monuments on record, the ward sits at the 100th percentile across all 462 NI wards for combined archaeological heritage. It also records 118 listed buildings (HED Historic Buildings Record), the 95th percentile for listed-building density across NI wards. Per 1,000 residents, this works out at 289.7 recorded sites — the 100th percentile across NI wards (a measure of heritage density relative to current population). Dated archaeological evidence runs from the Mesolithic through to the Modern period, spanning 9 archaeological periods, placing the ward in the 98th percentile NI-wide for chronological depth.

Detailed boundary map of TORR HEAD and RATHLIN ward, Causeway Coast and Glens
TORR HEAD and RATHLIN boundary detail
Regional context map showing TORR HEAD and RATHLIN ward within Causeway Coast and Glens
TORR HEAD and RATHLIN in regional context

Heritage at a glance

Percentile rankings throughout this profile compare each ward only against the other 461 Northern Ireland wards.

836
Historic sites
100th percentile
72
Scheduled monuments
100th percentile
118
Listed buildings
95th percentile
1.33
Sites per km²

Population context

5
Persons per km²
1st percentile
289.7
Sites per 1,000 residents
100th percentile
3,541
Total residents (2021)

The recorded heritage of TORR HEAD and RATHLIN

Of the 836 historic sites recorded, the most common are Rectangular Kelp Kiln (44, 5% of historic sites), Non-Antiquity (28), and Natural Cave (24). For Rectangular Kelp Kilns, this is the 0th percentile across NI wards that record this type. For Non-Antiquitys, this is the 93rd percentile across NI wards that record this type. Across the ward's 772.9 km², this gives a recorded density of 1.33 sites per km² (all heritage types combined). Scheduled monuments are distributed across approximately 0.23° of latitude and 0.27° of longitude within the ward, indicating dispersed rather than clustered placement. Note: 31% of historic site records carry an 'Unknown' period attribution and cannot be placed chronologically; the chronological breakdown reported below reflects only the dated subset.

Most common monument types

TypeCountDescription
Rectangular Kelp Kiln 44 —
Non-antiquity 28 —
Natural Cave 24 —

Chronological distribution

Mesolithic
182
Neolithic
3
Early Bronze Age
26
Middle Late Bronze Age
6
Iron Age
53
Early Medieval
95
Medieval
10
Post Medieval
181
Modern
17
Unknown
263

Note: 31% of historic site records carry an ‘Unknown’ period attribution. The chronological breakdown above reflects only the dated subset.

Terrain and environment

A mean elevation of 198m places this ward in the top 5% of NI wards by altitude, but the ward reaches 547m at its highest point — a vertical span of more than 349m within its boundary, indicating significant topographic diversity. The terrain is consistently steep, with a mean slope of 7.8° (96th percentile across NI); localised maximum slopes reach 21°, typical of stream-cut valleys, escarpments, or bluffs within the wider landscape. The ward is well-drained, with a Topographic Wetness Index of 9.2 (3th NI percentile) — characteristic of upland or steeply-sloping ground that sheds water rapidly. The land cover is dominated by improved grassland (82%) and woodland (16%). In overall character, this is an upland landscape of steep, elevated terrain, with land use dominated by improved grassland.

Terrain measurements

Mean elevation197.7 m 95th pct
Max elevation546.5 m 97th pct
Mean slope7.8° 97th pct
Wetness index (TWI)9.19 4th pct
Grassland82.5% 85th pct
Woodland16.4% 46th pct

Where this ward sits in NI

Elevation
95th
Slope
97th
Drainage
4th
Grassland
85th
Woodland
46th

Geology and preservation

The dominant bedrock formed during the Neoproterozoic era (Palaeogene period). Late Pre-Cambrian rock laid down before the Cambrian explosion of life — a stable, long-eroded basement geology. Peat covers 30% of the ward. Peat-bound ground preserves organic archaeological material that would not survive on aerated mineral soils. Bedrock composition is varied (complexity index 0.75, on a 0-1 Simpson-style scale), with multiple geological units within the ward boundary. Geologically diverse wards historically offered a wider range of stone types for building, toolmaking, and quarrying — a relevant factor when interpreting the material culture of nearby sites.

Bedrock eraNeoproterozoic
Bedrock periodPalaeogene
Surface depositsTill
Peat coverage29.5%
Bedrock complexity0.75

Placename evidence

The combined OSNI, Logainm NI, and GeoNames sources record 274 placenames for this ward. Diagnostic heritage strata identified within these are: 12 pre-Christian defensive (rath-, dún-, lios-, caiseal-) and 9 ecclesiastical (cill-, teampall-, mainistir-, díseart-). Note: Irish-language (name_ga) forms are recorded for roughly half of NI placenames in the combined sources, so anglicised forms whose Irish original could belong to multiple categories may be misclassified.

Placename categories

Ecclesiastical (kil-, temple-, monaster-)9 names
Pre-Christian Defensive (rath-, dun-, lis-)12 names

Scheduled monuments in TORR HEAD and RATHLIN

Scheduled monuments are sites legally protected under the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, designated by the Historic Environment Division (HED).

MonumentTypePeriod
Passage tomb (remains of): CrockateemorePassage Tomb (Remains Of): CrockateemoreNeolithic
Passage tombPassage TombNeolithic
Standing stoneStanding StoneEarly Bronze Age
Mound: possible barrowMound: Possible BarrowEarly Bronze Age
Fortified outcrop: DoonmoreFortified Outcrop: DoonmoreUnknown
Ecclesiastical enclosure: KilvoruanEcclesiastical Enclosure: KilvoruanIron Age
Sweat HouseSweat HouseUnknown
Graveyard: KilvoruanGraveyard: KilvoruanUnknown

Recorded historic sites

NamePeriodType
18th Century Clachan (Ally Upper)Post-MedievalUnknown
2 CISTS & a BOOLEY HUT (destroyed)MesolithicRitual/Funerary
A.P. SITEUnknownUnknown
A.P. SITEUnknownUnknown
A.P. SITEUnknownUnknown
A.P. SITEUnknownUnknown
A.P. SITEUnknownUnknown
A.P. SITEUnknownUnknown
A.P. SITEUnknownUnknown
A.P. SITEUnknownUnknown

Listed buildings in TORR HEAD and RATHLIN

Address / NameGradePeriod
GLENDUN LODGE CUSHENDUN CO.ANTRIMB+—
21 GAULT'S ROAD CUSHENDALL CO.ANTRIMB2—
35 KNOCKNACARRY ROAD CUSHENDUN CO ANTRIMB1—
CUSHENDUN GUEST HOUSE Cushendun Hotel STRANDVIEW PARK CUSHENDUN CO.ANTRIMB—
GLENDUN HOTEL STRANDVIEW PARK CUSHENDUN CO.ANTRIMB1—
MC BRIDE'S 2 MAIN STREET CUSHENDUN CO.ANTRIMB1—
4 MAIN STREET CUSHENDUN CO.ANTRIMB2—
3 MAIN STREET CUSHENDUN CO.ANTRIMB1—
1 THE SQUARE, CUSHENDUN CO.ANTRIMB+—
4 THE SQUARE, CUSHENDUN CO.ANTRIMB+—

Further reading

Discover more in Causeway Coast and Glens

Grounding History report mockup

Want a deeper view?

Grounding History: 10 Maps of Northern Ireland’s Past

A spatial history report bringing together analysis of all 462 wards into one place through 10 high-quality maps — covering monument density, archaeological periods, placename heritage, terrain, wetland, and the historic landscape at first survey.

View the report — £12.99

About this profile

What is a ward?

A ward is the smallest electoral and statistical geography used by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). The boundaries used here are the 2014 NISRA / OSNI Wards (462 across Northern Ireland), each typically covering 1-700 km² and a population of a few thousand. Wards do not align with parishes, townlands, or any historic administrative unit — they are a modern statistical convenience, used here only as a fixed spatial frame within which to summarise heritage records.

What counts as a site?

Three distinct heritage record types are reported separately, not combined: (1) Historic Sites — entries in the Northern Ireland Sites and Monuments Record (NISMR), the inventory of recorded archaeological sites and findspots, dated from prehistoric to early-modern; (2) Scheduled Monuments — sites legally protected under the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects (NI) Order 1995 and maintained by the Historic Environment Division (HED); (3) Listed Buildings — buildings of architectural or historic interest protected under the Planning Act (NI) 2011 and graded A, B+, B1, B2, or Record-Only by HED. A site appearing in more than one register is counted in each register independently.

Editorial principles

These ward profiles describe evidence, not history. They report what is recorded, not what occurred. Where the data is ambiguous, we say so. We do not infer historical processes — population movements, settlement expansion, periods of decline — from patterns in the record. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence: in Northern Ireland, where antiquarian survey was uneven and modern excavation is geographically biased, a gap in the record almost always reflects the limits of recording rather than a genuine historical absence. We mark such gaps explicitly where they appear in the data.

Limits of coverage and known caveats

Several caveats apply to every ward profile: (1) NISMR coverage is uneven across NI — some areas (notably parts of the south-east and the Belfast urban fringe) have been more intensively surveyed than others, so a low recorded site count does not reliably indicate a low past density of activity; (2) period attributions in NISMR are often 'Unknown', and chronological breakdowns reported here reflect only the dated subset; (3) placename classification depends on the Irish-language form (name_ga), which is recorded for approximately 50% of NI placenames in the combined sources, so ecclesiastical and pre-Christian counts may be understated where anglicised forms remain unparsed; (4) terrain percentile ranks compare each ward only to the other 461 NI wards; they are not absolute thresholds. For absence-dominant land cover categories (wetland, water, cropland), percentile ranks are suppressed below 1% raw value, since the ranking of zero-value wards is not meaningful.

Data sources (11)
Spotted an error? This dataset is updated continuously. Email contact@danielkirkpatrick.co.uk with corrections, missing records, or suggestions for improvement.