2006:494 - Castle Espie, Down

The Wildlife and Wetland Trust at Castle Espie are in the final stages of producing a proposal for a major regeneration of their site. The improvement is to include major landscaping of the wetland habitats, the provision of two new lookout points and a new visitors centre. As part of their proposal they would also like to investigate the possibility of opening up to the public the foundations of the industrial complex once located on the site. The site, on the western shore of Strangford Lough, is within the Strangford Lough area of outstanding natural beauty. The proposed development area largely consists of land that was reclaimed in the mid- to late 19th century for industrial purposes.
Test-trenching took place in late August 2006. The aim was to locate and establish levels of survival of the Hoffmann kiln and associated chimney, but also, if time allowed, the other buildings on the site. Much of the area of the Hoffmann, the pottery, the brickworks and the extant buildings were badly overgrown by a mixture of whin, brambles, nettles and shrubs, while the location of the brickworks had been planted some time in the past 30 or so years with Austrian pines.
Four test-trenches were opened, one in the centre of the kiln, one at each end and one to locate the chimney. No excavation was carried out other than cleaning of exposed structures and features to enable recording to take place.
The most significant feature uncovered was the intact foundations and firing level of one of the earliest Hoffmann kilns in Britain and Ireland. Test-trenching has revealed that the kiln survived intact from the level of the working floor to the base of the foundations. The extent of the kiln was revealed and the chimney and the connecting flue were also located. The Hoffmann was just under 19m (63ft) in width and 72m (236ft) in length, with outer walls 3.25m (10.6ft) thick pierced by wickets (doors) 1.3m (4ft) in width. The firing chambers were 5.5m (18ft) in length and 3.7m in width (12ft). This gave an overall firing range (total length of firing chambers) of c. 132–142m. The octagonal end walls were 8m (26.25 ft) in length.
It appears that the construction of the runway did not affect the structures present below the surface of the ground. This means that it is more than likely that the basal structures of the Newcastle kiln, brickworks and pottery works as well, as the ancillary buildings and Red Row, survive fairly intact below the runway or the scrub, though this, too, would need to be confirmed by trenching.