1996:012 - MUCKAMORE, Antrim

During September/October 1996 Archaeological Development Services Ltd undertook an excavation close to the western limits of the site of Muckamore Abbey, 2km south-east of Antrim town. The work was carried out in advance of a housing development. The site is an Augustinian priory, founded after 1183, possibly on the site of a sixth-century monastery.

Limited excavation carried out in 1973 by C.J. Lynn (DoE: HMBB) in advance of a road development which now covers part of the site revealed two opposite corners of the cloister and adjacent structures-enough to estimate the size and layout of the monastic buildings.

The 1996 investigation aimed at determining whether the lines of walls extrapolated from the findings of the earlier excavation continued west of the road, which lies over part of the site. To this end, a trench 35m x 10m was opened up for excavation. To the north of the trench, large-scale disturbance caused by the construction of early twentieth-century factory buildings was revealed. In the southern part of the trench an old ground surface with numerous sherds of everted-rim ware pottery was found. Overlying this, at the northern end, was discovered a mass of stones, some of which were moulded and carved. These were later seen to be the remains of a collapsed wall with parts of a number of decorative features. A 1.5m length of the base of this wail was uncovered, running north-south, fitting the layout of the monastery as found in 1973. It was not possible, however, to determine the width of the wall.

Approximately 2m north of the wall and running east-west for a distance of 2m was a shallow ditch, c. 4m wide and 1.2m deep. The base of this ditch was square-cut into bedrock. The limit of excavation at the east and modern factory basements at the west prevented more of this feature from being followed. The basal fills of the ditch were found to be sterile. They were sealed by a later, medieval, layer deposited to provide a level surface for the laying down of cobbles. At the very north of the trench, a post-medieval culvert and cobbled roadway were also discovered.