County: Antrim Site name: Ballyness Caravan Park, Bushmills
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/09/213
Author: Johanna Vuolteenaho and Vincent McClorey, ADS Ltd, Unit 6, 21 Old Channel Road, Belfast, BT3 9DE.
Site type: Early medieval settlement
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 694681m, N 939710m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 55.195559, -6.512899
The site is located to the south of Bushmills, Co. Antrim, on lands off Castlecat Road. The proposed development concerns the creation of additional caravan pitches at an existing caravan park at Ballyness.
The site lies within an archaeologically sensitive area with seventeen recorded sites within a 1km radius. These sites have wide-ranging dates from the prehistoric to the later medieval period. Although none of these are located within the boundaries of the site, a souterrain (ANT007–026) is located approximately 50m from this proposed development. Two archaeological investigations have already taken place in relation to previous phases of development of the caravan park, both of which were carried out by ADS Ltd. The first took place in 2004, directed by Peter Bowen (Excavations 2004, No. 22, AE/04/146), and the second, in 2007, directed by Moira O’Rourke, under licence AE/07/83. No archaeological deposits were uncovered during either phase.
This site was investigated as a result of a pre-construction assessment and evaluation carried out in 2009. The evaluation uncovered six features across nineteen trenches and these were then investigated as part of targeted topsoil-stripping. The number of features expanded from 6 to 60 within a 25m by 28m area.
Twenty-four of the features formed a possible rectangular structure, which was orientated north-east to south-west and measured 10m by 13m in plan. This structure was made up of four oval features, two linear slot-trenches and seventeen very steep- and vertical-sided post-holes. The remaining features across the site were similar in morphology and form and may represent ancillary or secondary structures associated with the main rectangular arrangement.
The finds included animal-bone fragments of sheep, cow and dog, small burnt-bone fragments, two small shell deposits (one of periwinkle, the other of limpets), nine sherds of possible early medieval pottery, three fragments of a curved piece of ferrous metal and a fragment of a disc-shaped undecorated quernstone. This site and the material found in association with the features are likely to be of early medieval date (c. ad 750–1250) and are most likely to be settlement activity related to the known souterrain (ANT007–026) situated 50m to the south-east.
