The Kempe Stones, Greengraves Road, Greengraves, Newtownards, Co Down, BT23 5AG is a listed building in the Ards and North Down local planning authority area, Northern Ireland.
The Kempe Stones, Greengraves Road, Greengraves, Newtownards, Co Down, BT23 5AG
- WRENN ID
- turning-landing-summer
- Grade
- Local Planning Authority
- Ards and North Down
- Constituency
- Strangford MP: Jim Shannon (DUP)
- Country
- Northern Ireland
- Irish grid reference
- J 445 736
- Coordinates
- 54.59016, -5.76473
- Source
- NI Environment Agency listing
Description
A Neolithic portal dolmen constructed from basalt rubble stands on a field boundary, approximately two miles west of Newtownards in County Down. The dolmen comprises a large, irregular capstone, a smaller capstone, two large portal stones, a blocking slab (or cill), and side stones. A thick hedge row is situated to the west of the structure. Traces of a cairn are reportedly present to the immediate south, though its stones appear to have been removed.
The dolmen dates from the Neolithic era (approximately 4000 to 2000 BC) and served as a single burial chamber. A cairn is believed to have originally stood directly south of the dolmen. An excavation reportedly took place around 1830, led by Rev. John Cleland, during which human bones were discovered. The monument is now in state care. The surrounding townland, Greengraves, was formerly known as Ballycloghtogall, meaning "townland of the dolmen." The name “The Kempe Stones” may be of Norse origin, potentially derived from "kampsten" meaning a large stone, although it could alternatively originate from the old Scots word “kempe,” referring to a warrior or champion.
Local climate
The Kempe Stones, Greengraves Road, Greengraves, Newtownards, Co Down, BT23 5AG sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,080 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 86% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 89% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 4 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 98% of listed buildings. Of these, 3 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- No flood data for this area
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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