2016:715 - Moyola Park Golf Club, Tamniaran, Castledawson, Derry

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken ahead of the construction of a new toilet block within the grounds of Moyola Park Golf Club, Castledawson, Co. Derry. The proposed development site is located within Moyola Park, a historic demesne recorded within the Register of Historic Parks, Gardens & Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (L-016).
The site consisted of a roughly square area of ground approximately 6m x 6m set within trees. The ground level within the footprint of the site had been reduced by about 0.6m from the surrounding area. Excavation of this area was carried out using a back-acting machine fitted with a toothless bucket. The area of ground reduction lay to the immediate east of the of the mill race (IHR 2224:2). The area to be reduced consisted of modern fill and was reduced to a depth of 0.98m from the top of the existing mill race wall. It contained building rubble including modern concrete blocks, plastic bags, piping and bottles, tin cans and barbed wire. This material overlay a thin layer of concrete 0.05m thick. This layer of concrete was not constant throughout the excavation area and is thought to represent possible repair to the base of the mill race. It overlay a gravel base which consisted of small rounded pebbles and represented the formation level for the development.
The outer wall of the mill race was cleaned and recorded. The exposed section of wall measured 8.5m north-south and to a maximum depth of 0.98m. It consisted of 4 courses of concrete slabs bonded with concrete mortar.
No further archaeological deposits were identified during monitoring of the ground reduction.

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