County: Down Site name: WOODGRANGE: Woodgrange Tower-House
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DOW030-004 Licence number: AE/04/153
Author: Eiméar Nelis, Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork
Site type: Castle - tower house
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 744380m, N 846481m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.346557, -5.779207
Woodgrange tower-house is situated 4km north-east of Loughinisland, Co. Down. Only partial, overhanging, remains now exist of the south-west corner of the building, which is thought to have been constructed over an earthen enclosure. Small-scale excavation and monitoring was undertaken in September and October 2004, before structural consolidation work to provide support for the overhanging masonry.
A test-trench measuring c. 1m by 1m was opened to the west of the existing wall to investigate the nature of the underlying soils, with a view to predicting the likely foundation depth required for the proposed support structure. A thin layer of topsoil (c. 0.1m) was removed to reveal compact subsoil; no archaeological features or artefacts were found. Subsequently, monitored excavation of the original footprint of the structure, beneath the area of overhanging masonry, was undertaken. Again, a thin layer of topsoil (c. 0.08m) was stripped from an area measuring c. 1.5m by 1.5m, revealing compact subsoil; no archaeological features or artefacts were found.
School of Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen's University, Belfast, on behalf of the Environment and Heritage Service: Built Heritage
