2010:228 - Castle Bawn, Newtownards, Down

This site is part of a proposed scheme which will see the interior of the 17th-century Castle Gardens, Newtownards, redeveloped and the walls and surrounding historic landscape incorporated into a shopping centre with associated infrastructure and carparks.
The Castle Gardens (DOW006–019) were associated with the 17th-century residences of Hugh Montgomery and later Sir Robert Colville, who acquired the Manor of Newtown in 1675 and whose family resided in the complex until the mid-18th century. The walls of the garden remained extant in the subsequent years, though the interior was adapted for industrial purposes with a flax, hemp and tow spinning mill (industrial heritage record 02662:000:00) occupying the north-eastern corner of the Castle Gardens and a weaving factory (industrial heritage record 02663:000:00) occupying the south-west corner. The buildings have since been demolished so that the site today consists of wasteland enclosed by walls measuring 219m west to east by 158m. These walls still retain some original features despite being altered and incorporated into buildings in some areas and completely removed in others. As such, this site represents the largest and only surviving garden court of Montgomery’s 17th-century mansion house. Additionally, the site represents a rare example of a 17th-century walled structure that was built for domestic purposes rather than defence.
The excavations associated with a wall breach for a pedestrian entrance on the north side of the Castle Gardens walls were undertaken in March 2010 on behalf of Castlebawn Ltd. The construction of the pedestrian wall breach resulted in the agreed demolition of 8m of the Castle Gardens wall. The mitigation strategy agreed by the NIEA comprised recording of the wall section to be demolished via scaled and measured elevation drawings, monitoring of the demolition itself, and hand excavation of sondages for each of the foundations of the four new pillars to be constructed to flank the breach.
The sondages were excavated to the formation level which would support the concrete foundation associated with the pillars. The footprint for each of the pillars also involved the hand excavation of anthropogenic material accumulated on either side of the wall over at least two centuries. This material was excavated to formation level, which also happened to be the natural sand layer that the Castle Gardens Wall was originally built up from.
The excavation of the sondages in the footprint of the new pillars revealed successive layers of post-medieval build-up material. Soils had accumulated, butting against the interior and exterior faces of the wall; there was a greater depth of build-up along the interior of the wall. The layers of accumulation material produced animal-bone fragments of various species, some very obviously modern butchery waste with sawn edges. There was also a quantity of post-medieval pottery sherds, bottle and pane glass, clay-pipe fragments, ceramic drain and tile. All material appeared to be of 19th–20th-century date with the exception of two possible medieval pottery sherds. The dark-green glaze on one of the sherds is similar to that used from the 12th century. This same glaze, however, is used up to as late as the 18th century. In the absence of an assemblage for further comparison, the medieval date cannot be certain. There was a greater accumulation of refuse material on the exterior of the wall, consisting of animal bone, pottery sherds and glass.
The wall had been built prior to this accumulation of material, as there was no evidence for the material being cut by the wall or any construction trench associated with it.
The mixed mortar layers recorded on the wall may represent a phase of repair or repointing prior to the accumulation of the uppermost layers on the interior of the wall. Similar layers were not observed on the exterior of the wall, suggesting that the work may have been cosmetic in the interior rather than large-scale repairs that would have required work on both sides of the wall. The mortar footing probably represents the most recent repair work carried out on the wall, as it post-dates the upper layers of accumulation and there were fragments of modern brick within the mortar. Again this was found in the interior of the wall.
There were no in situ archaeological deposits or surfaces found that may be contemporary with the building of the wall. The material suggests that waste was not allowed to accumulate in the environs of the wall and that the area was cleared and maintained after its original construction. Most of the material appears to have accumulated during the 19th and 20th centuries.