2015:081 - Bellingham Castle, Castlebellingham, Louth

An assessment (test trenching) took place of the site of a proposed extension to a hotel at Castlebellingham, Co. Louth. The testing was carried out at a preplanning stage by Deirdre Murphy of ACSU on behalf of Mr Howard Corscadden. The owner will be applying for planning permission to construct a 22-bedroom extension in the existing car park along the north-west side of the hotel.
The castle, a protected structure recorded in the County Louth Development plan (LHS 015-005), is classified as a 17th-century house (LH015-031). The village of Castlebellingham is an Architectural Conservation Area.
The original castle on this site was called Gernonstown castle, which was acquired by Henry Bellingham in the mid-17th century. This was burnt down by King James’ soldiers before the Battle of the Boyne. The current castle was built by the Bellingham family between 1670 and 1700. The site of the original castle is located to the south-west of the current castle and is also a recorded monument (LH015-009) being described as an unclassified castle site. It is depicted as a castle (site of) on the 2nd and subsequent editions of the Ordnance Survey maps.
Two test trenches were excavated along the line of the footprint for the proposed extension. Natural boulder clay and gravel were encountered immediately below the existing car park surface at a depth of 0.1m. No features were exposed in either trench and no finds were recovered. From an examination of surrounding ground levels and in particular the site to the north, which is some 1.5m higher than the surface of the existing car park, it would appear that the area for the car park was cut into the gently sloping ground at some point over the last forty or so years and this accounts for the existing shallow stratigraphy. A portion of an existing modern extension to the hotel will be demolished to facilitate the construction of the new bedroom block. It appears from the testing that this area too was even further reduced to allow for its construction at the time and it is considered unlikely that any archaeological deposits or features are present in that area.
The castle however is a Recorded Monument and Protected structure and the early edition OS maps indicate the presence of associated buildings in this part of the site. It is therefore recommended that in the event of planning permission being granted for the proposed extension that any demolition and ground reduction works be monitored in order to ensure the recording of any features that may be uncovered.

Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit, Unit 21 Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co Louth