EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Down
Castleskreen Co. Down
Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure.
Grid Ref: J47304027 (34730/34027)
SMR No: DOW 037:037
Excavation Licence: N/A
Excavation Duration/Year: 1952-3; 1955.
Site Director: C.W. Dickinson & D.M Waterman (Archaeological Survey of Northern
Ireland).
The site consisted of an earthwork set on the top of a drumlin. The site was excavated in a number
of small digs between 1952 and 1955 in order to inform the Archaeological Survey of Co. Down.
Excavation revealed an early medieval enclosure (34.5m in diameter) which was later re-modelled
into an Anglo-Norman motte (Fig. 90). This enclosure underwent two phases of construction. In the
first phase, the site was enclosed within a ditch, but with no presence of an accompanying bank. The
dominant feature in the interior was an extensive hollow (7m wide and 1.8m deep) which was
interpreted as a watering-hole for cattle. Finds from the occupation layer were limited to a few animal
bones, a rim of souterrain ware, and a chipped sandstone disc.
In the second phase, a bank was raised around the site. Although only approximately 0.9m high, this
bank was augmented by a timber palisade (indicated by the presence of a number of post-holes)
located on the inner slope. Sherds of souterrain ware were recovered from this occupation phase, as
were a blue glass bead, a fragment of a shale/lignite bracelet, and a fragment of a quernstone.
Fig. 90: Plan of excavations at Castleskreen, Co. Down (after Dickinson & Waterman 1959, 68).
Reference:
Dickinson, C. W., & Waterman, D. M. 1959. Excavations of a rath with motte at Castleskreen, Co.
Down. Ulster Journal of Archaeology (Third Series), 22, 67–82.
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