County: Antrim Site name: BALLYMONEY WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/02/127
Author: Cia McConway, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Burnt mound, Pit and Ecclesiastical site
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 690324m, N 925283m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 55.066797, -6.585905
Water Service is installing a pumping station and a new system of gravity sewers to service the hamlets of Bendooragh, Balnamore, Drumahiskey and Drumaheglis, Co. Antrim. Monitoring of topsoil-stripping associated with this work uncovered five areas of archaeological deposits. All topsoil-stripping was carried out using a machine fitted with a toothless bucket.
Sites A and B were uncovered on the Glenstall Road/Bendooragh line. Site A consisted of an area of charcoal-rich soil with heat-shattered stone which had been cut by an old stream course. This has been interpreted as the remains of a fulacht fiadh. Burnt-mound material was also uncovered at Site B; however, its extent and location close to a field boundary would suggest that the material had been used to fill a large depression, possibly a root bole.
Sites C and D were uncovered along the Balnamore line. Site C was a single clay-lined pit filled with charcoal-rich soil and heat-shattered stone, while Site D was an irregular linear feature filled with similar material. These features, while not diagnostic in their own right, suggest that further archaeological activity, most probably associated with fulachta fiadh, lay beyond the limits of the pipeline corridor.
Site E was uncovered near to an upslope from Drumaheglis Marina in farmland close to the Glenstall Road. As uncovered within the pipeline corridor, the site primarily consisted of two substantial linear ditches, one cutting through the other almost at right angles and from which early medieval pottery was recovered. Apparently associated with these were several small pits containing charcoal-flecked soil and further sherds of medieval pottery. Both linear features ran beyond the limits of the pipeline corridor and may indicate the location of a more extensive medieval site. The recovery of high-status 13th-century French pottery combined with the townland name of Drumaheglis (Hill of the Church) would suggest the location of an ecclesiastical settlement in the immediate vicinity. Several large 20th-century pits were also uncovered in this area and these have been interpreted as gravel or sand extraction pits filled
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