County: Tyrone Site name: CASTLEDERG CASTLE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 16:16 Licence number: —
Author: Eoin Halpin, Archaeological Development Services Ltd.
Site type: House - fortified house
Period/Dating: Post Medieval (AD 1600-AD 1750)
ITM: E 626046m, N 884394m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.706965, -7.595858
These series of excavations were undertaken in response to those carried out by Conor Newman in 1991 (Excavations 1991, 43-44). In all 3 cuttings were excavated, the 1st across the line of a possible causeway which was thought to traverse the marsh to the north of the castle, the 2nd was dug to investigate the form and function of the large mound situated to the north-west and finally a 3rd cutting was opened at the junction of the line of the causeway and the mound. Excavation revealed the causeway to consist of a ridge of redeposited sands and gravels on top of which cobble stones were set into a layer of fine sand and silt. These were kept securely in place by large squared kerb-stones. Excavations at the junction of the causeway and mound showed that the cobbled surface stopped on reaching the high, drier ground of the mound, with the line of the causeway continuing as a layer of redeposited gravels. The mound itself proved to consist of a natural deposit of sands and gravels, probably glacial in origin, modified and eroded by the regular flooding of the Derg River.
Editor's note: Previously labelled as 'Plantation castle'
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