1993:003 - CARRICKFERGUS, Antrim

A third season of excavations was carried out in Carrickfergus between April 1993 and January 1994, directed by the writer on behalf of the DoE Environment Service and in close co-operation with the Carrickfergus Project Development Office. Two sites were investigated within the nucleus of the historic town in advance of major urban redevelopment.

Carrickfergus 25
The Carrickfergus 25 excavation took place within a large cleared site that had been Nos. 25–35 West St. Work was carried out between April and September 1993 commencing with the excavation of three 2m x 1m trial trenches at right angles to the West St. frontage. It was discovered that virtually all the archaeological strata here had been destroyed by the foundations of post-medieval buildings. However, as the site is within the boundaries of the medieval town, an area of 400 sq. m was opened up to be investigated. Sixteenth-century maps depict scatters of vernacular houses (of wood, wattle and thatch) in this part of Carrickfergus but they have yet to be discovered. None was found on this excavation.

Post-medieval activity had removed much of the stratigraphy in the middle of the site down to the level of subsoil (a mixture of Keuper Marl and raised beach gravels). However, substantial archaeological features were uncovered in both the northern and south-eastern parts of the site. The earliest of these were two shallow linear features dated, by the locally produced Carrickfergus pottery found within them, to the medieval period. Their function is uncertain but given the proximity of the river running under West St. they may have been for drainage. These possible drains were cut into subsoil and ran in a roughly east-west direction across the middle of the site.

The most interesting discoveries made in the northern part of the site were a series of four sub-oval pits cut into the Keuper Marl subsoil and filled with highly organic malodorous deposits. It is not known if the clay removed in the digging of the pits was reused (perhaps for the production of pottery?) The pits were all roughly hewn. They date from before 1600, on the basis of the types of artefacts recovered and also the total lack of clay pipes and other 17th-century pottery. Amongst the artefacts retrieved were fragments of medieval pottery, glazed floor tiles and unglazed, hand-made everted rim ware. The discovery of human bone in the pits probably suggests an attempt to mask the smell by throwing in dumps of soil from the area surrounding the nearby St Nicholas's church.

The dampness of the pit fills meant that leather and wood survived well. More than 100 fragments of shoes, some complete, were retrieved, as well as fragments of decorated leather, carved wood and pieces of textile. Metal artefacts included iron knife blades, dress pins, a barbed fishing hook, a musket ball and a key. Hundreds of sherds of pottery were recovered from the pits along with several thousand animal bones, the most interesting of which was a complete horse skeleton.

The most interesting discovery in the south-east of the site, close to West St, was that of a sub-oval stone-lined feature. This was cut into the subsoil to a depth of between 0.7m-0.9m. A maximum of five courses of unmortared stone lined the feature and it was approximately 2.7m long north-south and 2m wide east-west. The base of the feature was partially floored with stone flags. A wood-lined drain, supported by wooden struts, curved off in a south-eastern direction for a length of roughly 7m, towards West St. and beyond our limit of excavation. The function of this stone-lined feature is uncertain. It may have been used for tanning purposes, the drain siphoning off the brine and urine used in the process.

Carrickfergus 26
This excavation was located on the cleared site of No. 17 Lancasterian St. The aim of the excavation was to try and determine the line of the town's medieval ditch, thought to follow Lancasterian St. and also to examine the archaeological potential of the site, close to the centre of the town.

The excavation took place between October 1993 and January 1994. Five trenches (A-E) were opened up. Two of the trenches (A + C) were set at right angles to Lancasterian St. The other three were positioned at intervals, west-east, across the southern end of the site. Recent deposits were machined off to a depth of roughly 1m below modern ground level and directly onto medieval layers. At this point manual excavation commenced.

Trench A, 16m long (north-south) x 4m wide (east-west), was located in the north-west of the site. Trench C, 4m long (north-south) and 2m wide (east-west) was located in the north-east of the site. There was approximately 0.75m of medieval stratigraphy above the subsoil in both trenches. The medieval ditch was not located in either Trench A or C. It seems likely that the ditch runs under Lancasterian St., perhaps having been backfilled with its rampart as the town expanded northwards in the 16th century.

The most interesting feature in Trench A was a series of shallow interconnected drainage ditches dating from the medieval period. These drainage ditches ran at right angles to the town ditch (ie, Lancasterian St.) and also east-west beyond the limit of excavation. The ditches were mostly cut into the subsoil.

In the south of the site, Trenches B, D and E all yielded large quantities of medieval pottery but no evidence of any structures. Trench B was located in the south-west of the site. It was 5m long (north-south) x 11m wide (east-west). In the extreme west of the trench, and running the full length of the trench (north-south), was a medieval drainage ditch.

Further east, a series of nine irregular oval cuts in the subsoil was discovered. They were filled with peaty organic material out of which medieval pottery and animal bones was recovered. The features resemble grave cuts but no human remains were found. At a higher level a row of stakes and one of posts, both running north-south across the middle of the trench, probably represent medieval property boundaries.

Of the several thousand sherds of medieval pottery recovered from the site the vast majority were locally produced Carrickfergus wares. Imports included sherds from Chester, Bristol (Redcliffe) and Saintonge, dating to the 13th-14th centuries.

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