2014:632 - Tornaroan clachan, Antrim

A test trench (orientated north-south and 3m x 1m) was located in the centre of a site suspected to be the likely location of a 17th-century village, associated with salt-making and coal mining on the nearby shore. A settlement is marked on the mid-17th-century Down Survey maps c. 1657 (Molesworth 1657; PRONI D597/1/14). 

Once the sod was removed a mixed dark brown loam, with pockets of ash and coal (10%) as well as numerous pebbles and stones, c.0.55-0.6m deep, was revealed. A significant quantity of material was recovered from this context including ceramics, bone, glass, metal and plastic. Under this was a compact deposit of stones (angular and rounded, average 0.2-0.3m wide) with mortar, embedded in a dark brown, silty sand matrix. This context was considered to be collapsed structural remains, possibly spread during levelling for a garden area. The deposit contained ceramic, bone, metal and brick. It was 0.1-0.2m thick. Further excavation revealed a brown loam with little stone content (5%) and a little charcoal (1%). Finds were predominantly 19th century – two horseshoes, some glass, two sherds of redware and two sherds of blackware. A final horizon contained 19th-century ceramics (including glazed redware and whiteware) and fragments of clay pipe and brick. 

The test trench at Tornaroan established that the upper layers of stratigraphy were re-deposited fill for a garden, while lower deposits had also been impacted by the modern works (levelled by mechanical digger). Under these disturbed layers finds were predominantly of 19th-century date – possibly 18th century; however, crucial to this investigation, no finds of undoubtedly 17th-century date were recovered. It may be the case that 17th-century houses lie closer to the extant buildings, but the exact location of the 17th-century village remains to be proven.