2006:1506 - BECTIVE ABBEY, Meath

Test excavation was carried out in December 2006 at Bective Abbey, Co. Meath. Bective Abbey, a national monument, consists of an archaeological complex, including an abbey and tower-house enclosed by a stone enclosure. The abbey was founded in 1146 as a daughter house of Mellifont and is the second oldest Cistercian abbey in Ireland.

Testing was carried out in the field to the south-west of the abbey complex in connection with a proposal for a new site entrance, a carpark and an access path leading up to the abbey, to improve access to the monument. A geophysical survey of the area in 2005 identified a large number of previously unknown potential archaeological features, many having no relation to the visible earthworks on the site. The anomalies were interpreted as evidence for multiphase occupation, and these were likely to be impacted upon by the proposed works. Testing was carried out in order to confirm the status of a selection of features identified during the geophysical survey and to retrieve additional information such as their date and function. The second purpose of the testing was to provide information for a mitigation strategy and reveal the depth of the protecting soil layer that may provide the buffer layer between the archaeological horizon and the proposed surfaces. The testing comprised two trenches measuring 10m by 2m, which were inserted across two rectilinear anomalies.

Trench A was located 67m to the west of the abbey and revealed a ditch in the location of the anomaly, which contained two sherds of medieval pottery and a heavily corroded iron object and which can be interpreted as of medieval date.

Trench B was located 23m south-west of the abbey and revealed several archaeological features, showing phases of medieval activity, located in the area of the identified anomaly. Directly under a thin layer of topsoil was a metalled surface of late post-medieval to early modern date, which extended beyond the limits of the trench. The metalled surface sealed two pits and a possible rectilinear feature, of probable medieval date, which contained sherds of medieval pottery and corroded iron objects. The features were cut into a bank of redeposited boulder clay, which also contained a sherd of medieval pottery.

A total of 117 finds were identified in the limited area of testing, the majority of which are likely to be of late medieval date. The majority of the archaeological features contained medieval pottery sherds and a small number of corroded iron objects and can be interpreted to be late medieval in date and contemporary with the time the abbey was in use. Unstratified finds consisted of sherds of medieval pottery and iron nails and a comparatively small number of post-medieval and modern finds.

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