County: Antrim Site name: TEMPLEPATRICK: 5 Templewell
Sites and Monuments Record No.: ANT051–071 Licence number: AE/06/253
Author: Naomi Carver, Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 722865m, N 885543m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.702974, -6.093648
An evaluation was carried out in the rear garden of No. 5 Templewell, Templepatrick, Co. Antrim. The evaluation was requested because the landowner was proposing to build a new dwelling on the site. The development site is adjacent to the site of a holy well, which is recorded in the Sites and Monuments Record as being apparently associated with a medieval church and graveyard. The information is derived mainly from the Ordnance Survey Memoir for Templepatrick and there is some confusion in the account as to how many church sites existed in the village in the medieval period. References to a church founded in the 14th century by the Templars or Knights of St John may be unsubstantiated and the church is not recorded in any of the historical sources relating to church taxation (O’Laverty 1878).
The evaluation was comprised of a geophysical survey, followed by the excavation of small test-pits. It was felt that this method of approach was appropriate given the possibility of encountering human remains. There was also restricted access to the site, which prevented the use of a mechanical excavator.
An earth resistance survey was carried out over the area of the application site. A system of grids was set out and readings were taken at 0.5m intervals. The results of the survey indicated the presence of a small number of anomalies. All anomalies could be explained by the presence of services and tree roots.
Following the completion of the geophysical survey, three test-pits (each 2m by 1m in size) were excavated on the site. One of the trenches contained a shallow pit with a charred log at the base and sherds of modern glass. This feature is not thought to be of any antiquity and no remains of archaeological significance were found elsewhere on the site.
References
Day, A., McWilliams, O. and English, L. 1996 Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland, vol. 35. Parishes of County Antrim XIII 19=833, 1835, 1838. Templepatrick and district. The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast.
O’Laverty, J. 1878 An historical account of the Diocese of Down and Connor, ancient and modern, vol. III. Dublin.
School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University, Belfast, BT7 1NN
