County: Antrim Site name: CARRICKFERGUS: Joymount Manse
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Audrey Gahan, ADS Ltd
Site type: Enclosure
Period/Dating: Medieval (AD 400-AD 1600)
ITM: E 741851m, N 887643m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.716834, -5.798270
Licensed monitoring of strip foundations on the site of the proposed new Manse at Joymount, Carrickfergus, revealed evidence of a possible medieval ditch. The site lay just outside, to the north, of the 17th-century walled town of Carrickfergus.
A small excavation within the area of the development confirmed that a medieval ditch, which had been severely truncated in antiquity, extended across the site. On average, the U-shaped ditch was 5m wide where it cut subsoil, and it extended across the site for a distance of c. 13m, continuing beyond the limit of excavation to both the north and the east.
Pottery recovered from the basal fills was local 13th-14th-century material in association with Saintonge and Redcliffe ware, suggesting a late 13th-14th-century date for this fill. It has not been possible to associate the ditch with any known medieval structure in the area; however, it may form part of the medieval Carrickfergus town defences.
Unit 48, Westlink Enterprise Centre, 30–50 Distillery Street, Belfast BT12 5BJ
