Today , the farm buildings of the south range are emerging out of all the cuttings west of the tower. This range would have incorporated the kilnhouse/bakehouse. I thought I should share this remarkable fourteenth century (1381) description of a grange similar to Beaubec. There was monastery run by the Augustinians in nearby Duleek, just seven kilometres from the site. The arrangement of the buildings and building materials recorded, particularly in the south of the court(yard), are remarkably similar to that at Beaubec and highlight the potential of our site for further building discoveries. “The above said religious men have and possess peacefully from time immemorial and have obtained in their own use a certain grange there called the house of St Michael of Duleek, and within the grange a chapel is situated and dedicated in honour of St Michael … Situated within the same grange there was one broken down and ruined old hall with a straw thatched kitchen and dairy and one small connecting stable roofed with stone tiles. Likewise there was a long room with a connecting garderobe and a room called the knight’s room, roofed with slates, indeed below the long room there is a cellar serving for a pantry for bread and ale. And below the room called the knight’s room is a larder and below the end of the long room is a stable serving for the proctor’s horses there. And all the buildings are situated on the eastern side of the court. Likewise on the southern side of the court are situated one bakery and malthouse, there was an upper room for the malt to be stored and in the bakery and malthouse , which were covered with slates, were two furnaces, one kiln and one oven for two and a half crannocks (a baskets of corn). Likewise, on the same side, connected to the malthouse and kitchen was a certain small granary for the corn inside to be threshed and one trough for pouring malt and one bakehouse with a pigsty at the end with a thatched roof, through which was the entry into the haggard and at which gate was situated a tilled granary. Under which was a small pigsty for young pigs and sows. Likewise, from the same side as the said granary was situated one long straw thatched cattle shed for oxen and cows. Likewise on the northern side was situated a sheepfold and one long straw thatched stable and there was a stone gate called the high gate with an adjoining room above and a room below for guests, below which was a room for the doorkeeper all of which were roofed with slates, and also between the said high gate and aforesaid kitchen was a stone wall, between which wall and another wall , daubed with mud, which stretched from the said high gate by the kings highway right up to the bridge, on the western and northern side of the said chapel is a garden. And on the eastern side of the said chapel and hall and room called the knight’s room is a large garden with mud wall, enclosed between the high road and knight’s highway and the Nanny river. Likewise, on the west of the said court was a barn in which was a barn in which corn and hay were stacked, without any other or buildings and in the time of Stephen de Bervynton a storehouse in the said barnyard was totally damaged and decayed . At the end of the said barnyard was a straw thatched house called the Kilnehouse (Arlene Hogan, The priory of Llanthony Prima and Secunda in Ireland, 1172–1541: lands patronage and politics, 2008).’’
Inside the tower a large spread of charcoal and burnt clay was excavated and sampled. This produced large quantities of wheat grains and suggest that this area of the tower may have been used as a store which experienced a fire. Penny has been providing very exciting results all week from her sampling and we already have imported figs, elderberry, sloes, damsons, plums and today a grape! She has also identified daub made from baked clay with straw inclusions. However, cutting J was certainly the centre of attention in the afternoon where Aidan was uncovering a large multi handled, highly unusual, medieval jug from the ditch fill live on twitter! (see the link below).
https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1rmxPYpZLPnKN?s=09
Claudia Kemna with Tighe and Maeve had arrived just in time to watch this event happening and were very excited. Claudia brought bacon rolls for all the crew. These were absolutely fabulous. Please call again! We were thrilled to welcome award winning conservation architect Turlough McKevitt (winner of the 2020 Irish Architecture’s public choice award) – with Frank and Kim – to the site and very much enjoyed sharing our thoughts on the buildings with him. He said something that co-director Geraldine though very profound: “The wall of the tower was built especially for that window”. Famous Fingal archaeologist Christine Baker arrived on site with her children to see her well-trained “Resurrecting Monuments” people in action.Thanks also to Brona’s dad Kevin who drove her and Keeva to the site and then spent the day working hard with us. Another great week of discoveries! Thanks also to John, Anne, Grace, Dermot, Colin and all the Mc Cullen’s for their encouragement and support.
Amongst these visitors listening to John explain the stratigraphy of cutting J is award-winning architect Turlough McKevitt (top centre).
Claudia and her children after visiting the finds office.
Aidan holds the two handles of the two-handled jug he discovered. It is for all the world like a late-medieval attempt to copy roman amphora.
Recording in cutting G.
Christine Baker (Fingal County Council) with her two children and her grown up members of the Resurrecting Monuments brigade. We forgot to congratulate her for her most recently published book: Partnership and participation: community archaeology in Ireland (Dublin: Wordwell, 2020). It was very good of her to pay us a visit.
Treasa Cody volunteered her time this afternoon to clean up the precinct wall for its record photograph.
Mick and Aidan are thinking “how are we going to lift all this pottery”.
Close up of the jugs in the fill of the moat in cutting J.
Beaubec Excavations 