The People’s Park, Commons of Lloyd, Kells includes Hillfort RMP ME016-054— and the protected Structure Spire of Lloyd MH016-123 / NIAH 1441601 within its 18th century landscape area. The hilltop also includes a pauper’s burial ground associated with the Kells Workhouse 1840s to 1921. In 2023 Meath County Council replaced a 67m length of concrete post-and-rail fencing (Area 1: based on ITM 672210, 776601) on the N side of the hilltop burial ground. Phase 3 works were added to Ministerial Consent C000626, E4529 for Phases 1 & 2 fence replacement (2021-2022) and footpath upgrading (2015) works. Most of the 18th century landscaping – apart from the oval site boundary – was erased in the early 20th century and the hilltop converted to arable agriculture. At this time the burial ground was first defined and this boundary included a 55m long section of the 18th century inner landscaped boundary around the Spire of Lloyd. The remainder of burial ground was walled, and this walling was replaced or upgraded in the 1980s.
Area 1: The existing concrete fence posts were removed with a sling. These posts had a foundation of around 0.60m x 0.60m x 0.60m deep. The existing 67m fence consisted of 27 concrete posts. These were replaced with 45 new postholes each 0.30m x 0.30m x 0.50m deep. Survey showed around 17 or 18 of the new 2023 postholes coincided with 1990s backfilled holes. The northern 28m or so of the Area 1 fencing was in a natural spring zone. The subsoil here had turned a light greeny-grey colour and was much more clay-rich than the looser, red-over-pale yellow brown subsoils that were visible further up the hill to the south.
Area 2: A new pedestrian gate in the burial ground 1980s wall consisted of four new postholes. Of these, the middle two seemed to show a possible internal (backfilled) drainage ditch up to 2m wide inside the embanked outer boundary.
Area 3: The 120m x 0.20m wide x 0.25m deep ducting trench generally showed modern, ploughed topsoil which was occasionally under imported ground-raising dumps from the 1990s. In the area of the present carpark, the original 1990s carpark gravel layers were over 0.50m deep in places.
Area 4: The Outer Boundary was walked and seen to include an earthen bank with an external vertical face of stones set in herringbone pattern and planted with hawthorn. An associated external ditch up to 4m wide was occasionally cut through bedrock. The top of the 1m high bank was planted with ash trees on the northern side and elder on the southern. Internally, the bank was planted with gorse. Inside the bank there seems to have been an internal drainage ditch. The various boundaries all over the Hill of Lloyd appear to have the same form, which is generally referred to as a ‘Louth Bank’ and these examples probably date to the 18th century.
Area 5: Two areas of modern dumped soils mixed with ‘Park litter’ were removed.
No finds were recovered: although much fencing wire and a modern iron plough coulter (broken) were noted. The area showed no evidence for post-medieval ‘manuring’ as it had remained part of the Spire of Lloyd landscaping until after 1918.
