2010:008 - Novally, Ballycastle, Antrim

Testing took place in relation to a proposed hotel and chalet development situated in lands opposite Drumawillan House on Whitepark Road on the outskirts of Ballycastle in County Antrim. The proposed development straddles the Straid Road, with three fields to the south and one field to the north. The development will consist of a 100-bedroom hotel, a separate staff accommodation block, 24 holiday cottages, access, services and landscaping. These will be located in the three fields to the south of the Straid Road, while the field to the north will be left undeveloped at this time.
The proposed development is located within an archaeologically sensitive area, with 25 recorded archaeological sites located within approximately 1.5km of the site. None of these sites is located within the actual boundaries of the proposed development, although the closest site is Ramoan church and graveyard (ANT008–014), which is located approximately 25m to the north-east. This is the site of a medieval parish church and graveyard which is believed to have been built on an earlier site. Sources such as Reeves (1847) and Hamlin (1976) cite Colgan, who claimed that this earlier site was Raith Mudain, which dated to the Early Christian period.
Also in the vicinity of the proposed development is the site of the battle of Glen Taisi (ANT008–166), which was fought in April 1565 between Shane O’Neill and a Scottish force under James, Aengus and Sorley MacDonnell. The NISMR has given this battle an approximate location 200m to the south-east of the proposed development. However, the Ordnance Survey has located the battle site approximately 450m to the west-north-west of the NISMR site, directly adjacent to the west of the proposed development.
Given the archaeological sensitivity of the proposed development, NIEA:Built Heritage required that pre-development testing take place. This took the form of 31 trenches placed specifically within the footprints of the proposed buildings and access roads within the three fields to the south of the Straid Road. The terrain within these areas largely consists of low-lying ground, with some higher ground to the centre and north-west. Currently used as pasture land, the ground is quite marginal in places and testing revealed evidence of agricultural land improvements in the form of many drainage ditches running across the site, whilst other modern disturbance had been caused by the insertion of fill material within the centre of the site.
One area of archaeological potential was noted during testing. A subsoil-cut, sub-oval pit was uncovered, located to the immediate north-east of higher ground within the centre of the site. This pit measured 0.94m north–south by 0.73m and sloped in depth from 0.22m in the west to 0.14m to the east. This pit was filled with mid-brown friable clay and charcoal. The fill also contained a high stone content, but these did not appear to have been burned. No artefacts were recovered from the pit.