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Meath<br />

Baronstown, Co. Meath<br />

Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure Complex<br />

Grid reference: N94405936 (294401/259365)<br />

SMR: N/A<br />

Excavation Licence No: A008/017<br />

Excavation duration: September 2006 – April 2007<br />

Site director: S. Linnane (ACS Ltd.)<br />

Baronstown excavated in advance <strong>of</strong> the M3 road-scheme was a large early medieval<br />

enclosure complex (Fig. 244). It appears to have functioned as a well fortified farmstead in its<br />

early years but its importance gradually declined until its abandonment probably in the tenth<br />

or eleventh centuries. Artefacts were relatively scarce for a site <strong>of</strong> this scale but a successful<br />

mixed agricultural economy was evident by a large animal bone assemblage and the presence<br />

<strong>of</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> cereal-drying kilns. <strong>The</strong> site was located on the summit <strong>of</strong> a small hill – at<br />

112m OD – and the ground sloped steeply down to the River Gabhra to the west and more<br />

gently to the north. This afforded the site a prominent position within the immediate<br />

landscape and resulted in commanding views to the north, east and west. <strong>The</strong> lower ground<br />

in these areas would have been subject to flooding prior to canalisation <strong>of</strong> the river.<br />

<strong>The</strong> first early medieval phase at Baronstown witnessed the construction <strong>of</strong> a circular<br />

enclosure which had an internal diameter <strong>of</strong> 40m. <strong>The</strong> enclosing ditch was on average 4m<br />

wide and 3m in depth and was re-cut on numerous occasions. <strong>The</strong> ditch became smaller after<br />

each re-cut and it appears its defensive role receded as the centuries passed. One <strong>of</strong> the<br />

primary ditch fills was dated to A.D. 540-654 while a later deposit returned a date <strong>of</strong> A.D.<br />

880-1022 (see below for radiocarbon dates). <strong>The</strong> radiocarbon dates, ditch re-cuts and finds<br />

assemblage indicate that the circular enclosure was in use across many centuries.<br />

Few features survived internally within the initial enclosure and this is likely due to many<br />

centuries <strong>of</strong> farming activity and truncation <strong>of</strong> the archaeological deposits. <strong>The</strong> most<br />

significant feature was a C-shaped enclosure with its open end to the north. It had an internal<br />

diameter <strong>of</strong> 14m and at its greatest was 2.8m wide and 0.93m deep. Two re-cuts were noted<br />

within the ditch fills and the primary fill was dated <strong>of</strong> A.D. 645-772. This suggests that the<br />

enclosure was constructed slightly later than the circular enclosure but they would also have<br />

been in use contemporaneously for a considerable time. Its function remains unclear. It was<br />

too big to have acted as a drainage ditch while it probably did not enclose a house as early<br />

medieval dwellings are not generally enclosed by such features and, when circular, they tend<br />

to be found closer to the middle <strong>of</strong> enclosures.<br />

An outer enclosure – that enclosed the circular enclosure – was dug at approximately the<br />

same time as the C-shaped enclosure. Radiocarbon dates from its basal fills were slightly later<br />

than those <strong>of</strong> the circular enclosure and ranged from A.D. 687-895 and A.D. 684-887. Two<br />

ditch re-cuts were evident and, similarly to the primary circular ditch, the ditch became<br />

smaller after each modification. A causewayed entrance was located at the west which faced<br />

the Gabhra River. <strong>The</strong> new enclosure was dug close to the circular ditch at its south side but<br />

gradually diverged, moving northwards, along the east and western sides to eventually create<br />

a much larger enclosure which measured 70m west-east by 30m north-south. <strong>The</strong>refore,<br />

Baronstown expanded in size within a few generations <strong>of</strong> the site’s primary use.<br />

<strong>The</strong> entrance into the circular and outer enclosure was located to the southeast. It consisted<br />

<strong>of</strong> linear cuts in the subsoil which extended from the internal edge <strong>of</strong> the inner ditch, across<br />

the area between the inner and outer ditches and beyond the outer edge <strong>of</strong> the latter ditch.<br />

It appears that large timbers were placed in the cuttings which formed the base <strong>of</strong> a bridge.<br />

Successive layers <strong>of</strong> metalling were found in the area to the south <strong>of</strong> the outer ditch which<br />

reinforces the theory that a bridge was utilised here. A scatter <strong>of</strong> pits and postholes in the<br />

vicinity <strong>of</strong> the bridge crossing may indicate the location <strong>of</strong> a timber gatehouse but the<br />

surviving features were too flimsy to attempt any form <strong>of</strong> accurate reconstruction. Of interest<br />

510

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