2023:516 - Lisburn Castle Gardens, Castle Street, Lisburn, Antrim

Archaeological monitoring for installation of a Bronze Sculpture and Carved Bench at Lisburn Castle Gardens, Co Antrim was carried out by in relation to the installation of the furniture as part of a Public Art and Literature Trail. The art installation furniture is located within the curtilage of a Scheduled Monument with archaeological supervision of topsoil removal for the installations being specified as a requirement under Scheduled Monument Consent SMC6 23-23. A total of 3 installation pits were excavated under archaeological supervision resulting in the identification of part of a potential wall foundation structure within the deepest pit associated with the Bronze Sculpture. The archaeological remains were recorded and subsequently preserved in situ in agreement with DfC:HED Scheduling team.

Archaeological monitoring of the base plate pits for the new art installation and literature trail wooden bench did not extend beyond the base of the existing sod layer and therefore did not expose any archaeological material. The material that was exposed appeared to be modern infill material. Archaeological monitoring for the base foundation pit for the Bronze Statue however was excavated to a depth which exposed potential archaeological material, in this instance in the form of a potential wall foundation base consisting of two granite boulders set in a mortar bond which appeared to represent the remains of a wall structure extending across the site running north-east/south-west. The identification of a small fragment of mortar surface within the south-east corner of the trench suggests that a floor surface may once have existed associated with the wall. No artefacts were recovered during the monitoring and subsequent recording to indicate a date of origin for this potential structure.

The archaeological remains which were exposed, however, had been greatly disturbed by the planting of the beech tree which once stood in this location as evidenced by the large root stump and roots extending out in all directions.

The bench base pits were covered with a thin metal plate before re-covering with sod while the Bronze Statue base pit was covered with a geotextile material along its base with a secondary protective plastic sheet layer before being backfilled with cement-bonded breeze block support blocks along the north and south edges and installation of the statue base within a concrete fill and  topsoil covering.

While archaeological monitoring for the installation of the art and literature trail furniture identified potential archaeological remains within the Bronze Statue base pit, these remains underwent hand exposure and recording and were adequately preserved in situ beneath the statue in line with conditions associated with the Scheduled Monument Consent. The method of in situ presentation has allowed for demarcating the excavated area to aid in the future dismantling of the installation while the accurate geolocation of the archaeological remains also allows for their future location even after removal of the statue at end of life potential.

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