County: Fermanagh Site name: crevenish
Sites and Monuments Record No.: FER153–020, FER153–038 Licence number: AE/07/128
Author: James McKee, Archaeological Development Services Ltd, Westlink Enterprise Centre, 30–50 Distillery Street, Belfast.
Site type: Limekiln
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 616518m, N 862634m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.511854, -7.744923
An archaeological investigation was undertaken in July and August 2007 in advance of the proposed development of lands at Crevenish House, 57 Crevenish Road, Crevenish, Kesh, Co. Fermanagh. The site is situated on the shore of Lough Erne and two scheduled monuments are located within the actual area of the development. Crevenish Castle (FER153–020) is a ruined castle dating from the Plantation period and FER153–038 is the site of a graveyard and church built in the 17th century on the eastern side of Crevenish Castle.
Monitoring of topsoil-stripping and groundworks uncovered a ruined limekiln and associated quarry. The limekiln was roughly square in plan and measured 4.95m east–west by 4.85m and up to 0.9m high. It had been built into the quarried face of limestone bedrock exposed along the shore of Lough Erne. The kiln had been constructed with three walls of limestone, bonded with clay and lime mortar, on the south, east and west sides. The interior of the eastern and western walls was faced with additional smaller limestone walls that may have functioned as supports or ledges. Two evenly spaced limestone plinths were joined to the interior side of the southern wall and measured 1.4m north–south by 0.5m by 0.3m high and 0.8m north–south by 0.6m by 0.2m high. On the northern side of the kiln three equally spaced openings, 0.6m wide, were separated by two poorly preserved limestone plinths spaced evenly between the eastern and western walls. The openings would have functioned as draw/rake holes. A rake-out area was revealed to the immediate north of the draw holes, indicated by multiple layers of charcoal-rich clay and calcined quicklime. A shallow flue ran from the central draw hole to the centre of the kiln. The interior of the kiln was filled with calcined limestone rubble and the floor and sides were scorched red and lined with calcined quicklime. The space between the quarried bedrock and the walls was filled with clay and limestone rubble.
A section of a limestone quarry was found 1.25m to the south of the limekiln and extended beyond the limit of excavation. The limekiln can be compared to examples found in Britain and is likely to be contemporary with the adjacent early 17th-century Plantation bawn and church.
