County: Antrim Site name: CARRICKFERGUS CASTLE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR Ant 52:59 Licence number: —
Author: N.P. Brannon, Historic Monuments and Buildings Branch, DOE(NI)
Site type: Castle - Anglo-Norman masonry castle and Bailey
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 741223m, N 887277m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.713730, -5.808180
The excavation in the castle ward is being carried out in advance of the laying of pipes in a long, narrow trench running from the west vault of the keep to the main gate. To date, excavations have yielded artefacts spanning the range from medieval to modern, with traces of 17th- to 18th-century masonry and brick structures. Wall 'J', encountered in Basil Wilson's 1950s excavations outside the middle ward, has been re-exposed, with a fine early 17th-century North Devon tile lying nearby. Bedrock has been found at high levels in and around the keep and at the gatehouse.
