Ballafayle Cairn

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

No admission fee; open access for everyone. Donations to Manx National Heritage welcome.

ParkingParking not known

The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.

Parking details

No car park. The MNH access guide says there are several parking spaces on the grass verges beside each site (the cairn on one side of the narrow Quakers Road, Rhullick ny Quakeryn on the other), and both can be viewed from the road; no charge is mentioned, but no official source states the verges are free, so the status is unknown. The approach from either side is narrow and steep.

Driving pin: the Google listing pin for Ballafayle Cairn (54.284019, -4.340210), on Quakers Road at the top of the hill. The MNH access guide gives map reference SC 4775 9012, which converts to 54.28397, -4.34026, about 6 m away; the Rhullick ny Quakeeryn listing is 30 m north-west across the lane. From Ramsey: A2 towards Laxey, second left (B19) to Dreemskerry and Ballajora, right at the A15 junction up the narrow road beside the former Methodist chapel, 0.5 km to the top of the hill. From Douglas: A2 to the Hibernia crossroads, right on the A15, after about a mile left on to the unmarked Quakers Road opposite the sign for Ballaglass and Maughold Church.

No bus serves the site; the nearest stop is Ballajora crossroads on route 16, 0.5 km down a very steep hill.

About

Ballafayle Cairn is a Neolithic burial cairn on a hilltop above Maughold in the north-east of the Isle of Man, cared for by Manx National Heritage. It was discovered in 1926 during improvements to Rhullick ny Quakeryn, the small walled enclosure across the lane that was the island's only Quaker burial ground, given by the farmer William Callow of Ballafayle in the seventeenth century when Quakers were refused burial elsewhere. The surviving stones suggest a wedge-shaped cairn that was once much larger, perhaps like Cashtal yn Ard, visible to the south-west; the earth bank at the end is a later addition. The site has panoramic views of the Maughold coast and, on a clear day, Cumbria and the Lake District. Reviewers call it one of the most beautiful spots on the island. Tips for visitors: the approach lanes are steep and single track, there are a few verge spaces and a bench, and entry is by stile or gate on to uneven grass with protruding stones.

Check today’s timesSee all times

Ballafayle CairnOpen access all year round

Opening times may change at short notice.

Open access all year round; no admission fee. Donations to Manx National Heritage welcome. The land is mostly not owned by MNH and visits are at your own risk.

A remote, exposed hilltop with no toilets or facilities. Entry to the cairn by a stone stile (uneven, can be slippery) or a wooden gate; Rhullick ny Quakeryn across the lane by stile only. Grass inside both enclosures, uneven with protruding stones. A second wooden gate from the cairn leads into Reayrt Chalse, a modern memorial area open to the public. Livestock is likely in the surrounding fields.

No dogs are permitted within either enclosure.

Photo: the stones of Ballafayle Cairn and its enclosure wall and gate, seen from the south. Otter, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isle_of_Man_-_Ballafayle_Cairn_20240220_from_south.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.