Boundary Stone, Ballyknockan Road, Ravara, Ballygowan, Co. Down, BT23 6NR

This is a small granite boundary stone situated on a grassy roadside bank on the north side of the Ballyknockan Road, approximately 1.5 miles west of Ballygowan, County Down. Constructed sometime between 1840 and 1859, the stone measures roughly 25cm by 20cm in plan and 45cm high at the front, with the ground rising to the rear. A shallow, segmental arch-headed recess (approximately 17cm by 14cm) is present on the front face, once holding a cast iron plate. The plate, described in a 1974 survey as depicting a stag and dragon with the initials ‘H.T.’, has been removed, leaving only part of the iron plug embedded in the stone. A break in the stone to the left of the recess suggests the plate's removal may have been deliberate.

The granite and iron construction is reminiscent of early 19th-century milestones found along the Dublin-Belfast coach road, notably at Sprucefield, Hillsborough, and Dromore. While the stone’s function remains uncertain, its location on the boundary of the townlands of Ravara and Ballyknockan suggests it possibly acted as a boundary marker, with the stag, dragon, and ‘H.T.’ perhaps referencing a local landowner. Its roadside placement is unusual for Irish land demarcation, which typically involves hedgerows and stone walls. An alternative explanation is that the stone might have been related to a nearby flax spinning factory marked on the 1858 Ordnance Survey map or that it was relocated from another site. The iron plate was removed sometime before 1993. The boundary stone exhibits industrial archaeological interest. It was delisted on February 27, 2004, and remains in Central Government ownership.