2008:043 - The Whitehouse, 28–34 Whitehouse Park, Whitehouse, Newtownabbey, Antrim

The Whitehouse bawn lies on the shore of Belfast Lough. Its exact origins are slightly obscure; a building depicted as a central rectangular block flanked by two round towers may have been marked at the location on a map dating to the 1560s. Documentary sources revealed that a ‘Gentleman Adventurer’, Mr Brunker, occupied the site in 1574. O’Laverty stated that Brunker served under Essex and Perrott and occupied the ‘old castle of Whitehouse’ which lay four miles from Carrickfergus (O’Laverty 1878).
The majority of the present standing walls of the Plantation bawn date to the 17th century. During the late 19th century the building was used as stables or a barn and from the 1920s to the 1990s the building was used as a Gospel Hall. Currently the building is managed by the Whitehouse Preservation Trust.
The development of the site comprises the removal of the Gospel Hall fabric and replacing it with a new structure built within the surviving bawn fabric.
The archaeological works at the Whitehouse commenced in May 2008 with the excavation of four test-pits, two within the central hall of the former Gospel Hall and two located outside the front of the building against the bawn walls. The test-pits were excavated in conjunction with an extensive educational programme which saw over 500 schoolchildren visit the site.
The archaeological works continued in November 2008 when the demolition of the former Gospel Hall was monitored. Excavation commenced after demolition and during the first two weeks it concentrated on the central hall and back flanker areas. Previously, the test-pits had indicated that much of the archaeology in this area may already have gone, truncated by the construction of the former Gospel Hall in the 1920s. However, further investigations revealed archaeological features surviving in the back flanker area as well as the southern end of the hall.
The earliest of the features excavated to date include a gully (possibly prehistoric in date) pre-dating the White House itself. One of the earliest features associated with the house are the remains of a curved stone foundation within the back flanker. The foundation follows the same curved alignment as the flanker and may represent the remains of a staircase, or even an earlier phase of the flanker. A stone- and brick-lined small pit was also discovered. As these features are below the foundation level of the flanker wall, they were left in situ and protected with geotextile until decisions on underpinning and shoring are made. Clay pipes, pottery and animal bone were found in the deposits sealing the earlier features.
During December 2008 excavation continued within the rooms on the left-hand side (south and south-west). A lot of material associated with the late 19th and early 20th century has been excavated in the area. The excavation of the latest deposits would indicate that the early phase of the Gospel Hall only extended across the central part, with a garden occupying the area where the left-hand side room now stands, built as a later extension.
Remains of a cobbled surface have been partially exposed below the 19th-century material, with possible earlier floor levels beneath this again. The excavation is ongoing and the remaining areas should be excavated during the first half of 2009.
Reference
O’Laverty, J. 1878 An historical account of the Diocese of Down and Conor Ancient and Modern. James Duffy & Sons, Dublin.