2005:035 - GLENARM: St Patrick's Church of Ireland, Antrim

Archaeological examinations at Glenarm Parish Church encompassed both invasive and non-invasive site works. The invasive works involved the excavation of a drainage trench to the rear of the vestry and along the eastern wall of the chancel. The non-invasive works involved the cleaning up and recording of the interior of the vestry after its floor was lifted.

The material uncovered during the excavation can be divided into three distinct periods of activity: 1465–1584, when the Franciscan friary was on the site; the building and expansion of the standing church, between 1769 and 1892; and its use as a graveyard from the early 17th century to the present day.

Area 1: Franciscan friary, 1465–1584
Excavations along the standing chancel wall showed that it was built directly on top of the walls of the friary (Lynn 1987). Both walls were bonded with lime mortar, but the friary wall was made from a mix of roughly hewn limestone blocks and occasional igneous boulders, while the chancel was made from smaller, better-hewn igneous and sandstone blocks. This known friary wall was tied into and bonded with a large limestone block wall.

The limestone block wall ran north-west to south-east from the chancel for 9.2m. It continued under the standing vestry, giving it a maximum width of 1.6m. It survived to a height of 0.8m to the east of the vestry wall and to a height of 0.4m to the west, which was within the confines of the current vestry. At its south-east extent it survived to the east of the graveyard wall but did not appear to the west. It is likely that any surviving standing remnants of this wall were removed during the construction of the graveyard wall some time between 1760, when the graveyard wall is not visible on maps, and 1830, when it first appears. It is probable that the lower sections of this wall survive below ground level to the south-east of the vestry. The limestone wall was poorly made from very roughly cut limestone blocks that ranged from 0.5m by 0.5m by 0.4m to 0.1m by 0.1m by 0.05m, and was bonded with lime mortar.

This wall was bonded and tied into a narrower limestone block wall, which ran north-east to south-west and was 3m long, 0.35m wide and 0.1m high. It met the main wall 2.6m from its south-eastern end. This wall was in turn bonded and tied into a second limestone block wall, which ran north-west to south-east and was 1.2m long, 0.35m wide and 0.1m high. This wall ran parallel to the main wall at a distance of 1.7m from it. These walls were built over by the transept (which dates to 1823) and the standing vestry. Further remains are likely to survive within the ground outside the vestry walls.

As all of these walls are tied into each other and are of almost identical construction, it can be assumed that they are contemporary to each other and are likely to be from a single construction phase. As the main limestone wall is tied into the known friary wall, we can say that these three walls were contemporary to the friary and must represent the remains of hitherto unknown friary outbuildings. The larger wall must have been a main supporting wall, while the narrower walls were internal divisions. The large size of the main wall suggests that it also acted as a retaining wall for the soil bank on its east side.

Area 2: graveyard, early 17th century to present day
The excavated area of the graveyard lay along the north-east wall of the vestry and the south-east wall of the chancel, grave row XIX plots 1–5, row XX plots 1–2, row XXI plots 1–2 and row XXII plots 1–2. These plots were delineated in the early 17th century and had been in use since that time. Six in situ undisturbed skeletons and the scattered remains of a minimum of 92 individuals were uncovered.

Area 3: St Patrick’s Church and its extensions, 1769–1892
St Patrick’s Church was initially built in 1769. It had a simple nave, a three-sided apse, tower and spire. Excavations allowed us to see the topmost part of the external foundations of this nave. This topmost level was formed from hand-carved granite blocks measuring 0.75m long and 0.2m deep, cut at a roughly 45° angle and lying directly under the 1769 walls. They presumably lay on further foundations, but excavations did not go below these blocks.

In 1823 the church was extended with the building of a gallery, vestry and south transept. A doorway was forced through the wall of the 1769 nave at its south-eastern corner to allow access into the new vestry. The remains of the 1823 vestry were found underneath the floor of the current vestry.

Conclusion
The discovery of an extension to the friary walls means that we can now say that the Franciscan friary in Glenarm was of a much greater scale than previously thought. The burials within the graveyard loosely conformed to their given burial plots and all artefacts discovered with them were consistent with a 17th–20th-century date. The church structures uncovered confirmed the sequence of building seen from the map evidence and the church records. For such a small excavation, the amount of information gained was surprising. It allowed us both to confirm the known historical record for the last 300 years and to add a new extension on to the scheduled monument.

Reference
Lynn, C. 1987 Glenarm friary. Glens of Antrim Historical Society 15, 1–36.

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