Beaubec Excavations

Catriona Devane is our hero of the day. She has been single-handedly processing the vast collection of material coming into the finds office every day. There was a great deal of recording and photography going on in the cuttings today. The eighth day on the site was also marked by many welcomed visitors. Kieran Campbell (and his dog Scruffy) called in to look at our medieval and post-medieval tiles. He thinks that some of them may be from Normandy and similar to examples from his excavations at James’ Street in Drogheda. Young Aidan and Killian King came by to make sure their grandad Aidan was working hard. John McCullen came down for his daily update followed later in the day by Anne and Grace who gave us a lot of encouragement. Lorraine Foley, garden historian and Greg arrived and answered a barrage of questions about the soils on the site.  Rosanne Meenan gave a wonderful pop-up presentation to the team on medieval and post medieval pottery. This was her last day on the site and we are really grateful for all she has done. Leading castle expert David Sweetman did a tour of the site and thought the vaulted feature in the tower was very similar to a wash-house he excavated in the Crutched Friars House at Newtown Trim.

Caitriona is not featured in the blog as often as she should be. She works tirelessly in the office cataloguing the finds from the excavation.

Mick Mongey took this very detailed photograph of the plank-centering used in the construction of the gate tower tunnels. It is so detailed, we are wondering if it would be possible to get a tree-ring date from the photo? (photo: Mick Mongey).

John McCullen, our host, was the first of our distinguished visitors to visit the excavation.

Later in the afternoon Anne McCullen made a visit to the gate tower.

Garden expert Lorraine inspects the soils in the northernmost trial trench. Greg looks on.

Kieran and Scruffy examine the North Devon Gravel Tempered Ware ridge tile. Both felt that the tile was seventeenth century in date.

Kieran sent the Beaubec blog the following: “Attached is a fig. from the Exeter report (Allan 1980) showing a North Devon Gravel-tempered ridge tile (No. 2956 reconstructed) Context is 1690-1720. They didn’t actually get many North Devon gravel-tempered ridge tiles in the excavations, though they got massive amounts of pottery. The description: ‘with usual glaze covering top two-thirds of tile’ fits the Beaubec example perfectly. The Exeter report Medieval and post-medieval finds from Exeter is available to download online, in four parts.”

Visitors to the excavation today featured Aidan’s grandchildren.

A rapt and socially distant audience take in Rosanne Meenan’s master class on medieval and post-medieval pottery.

Rosanne in full flight.

Husband and wife archaeological teams Matt and Geraldine (left) and Rosanne and David. Castle expert David Sweetman saw parallels with our site and medieval buildings at Castleroche, Co. Louth and Newtown-Trim, Co, Meath (photo: Craig Downie).

There was a great deal of competition between cuttings today when it came to the Discovery of the Day Awards (The DoDAs to those in the know). John’s team came down on the medieval fill of the moat and found some lovely glazed ridge tiles similar to those discovered last year, they made a strong case to the judging panel. Laura’s team revealed a wall at right angle to the one uncovered last year which confirms that the kiln is inside a medieval building. This made Matt very happy because he has been looking for a right angled wall since the excavation began. French and local medieval pottery was found near the flue area. This wall got twelve points from the Norwegian jury. Rosanne has found both sides of the damaged wall, a gap rather than an entrance into the precinct wall. It was beautifully trowelled but the cutting received little support from the judges. Anthony Mullen found some nice decorated pieces of Drogheda Ware. Tactical voting kept Anthony outside the top finalists. But what was causing most of the excitement today was the ongoing discoveries being made by Craig’s team inside the tower. Excavation in the area of the internal dividing wall uncovered a floor and vaulted openings in the side walls. At this stage we cannot be sure if this is a stone culvert, which would have served a garderobe, or a cellar which could have helped the French monks preserve their wine. We are all waiting  to see how this develops. Although Matt voted for Laura’s wall as the find of the day, the overall winners were the men in the tower, Craig, Lennon and Alex. Honourable mention went to Leslie and Mary who removed the topsoil in Cutting G; a cutting that could become exciting but is not there yet. We enjoyed showing Ian Lennon around the site today. Some of our team had worked on an excavation with him in the Naul last summer.

Despite the wet weather in the afternoon, Bernie (left) and Laura did a wonderful job exposing the wall that runs at right angles from the precinct wall discovered last year (photo: Billy Sines).

From left, Aidan, John and Muireann have found the outside (eastern edge) of the fosse (photo: Billy Sines).

Rosanne exposes the damaged end of the precinct wall. Tomorrow is her last day and she has promised to give a master class in pottery to the excavation team (photo: Billy Sines).

Mary and Leslie have cleared off most of the topsoil from Cutting G. They believe that their day will come (photo: Billy Sines).

Anthony Mullen (today there were two Anthonys on the site) found some beautiful pottery in the lower levels of this trial cutting (photo: Billy Sines).

Lennon (left), Sandy and Craig inside the gate tower (Alex is out of the picture on the right). The entrance to the arched cellar is to the right of Craig (photo: Billy Sines).

Inside the mysterious arched cellar running under and to the west of the gate tower (photo: Billy Sines).

Close up of the tunnel roof. Craig thinks it could be concrete. That would be very confusing indeed! We won’t know until the tower is completely excavated. “Onward and downward” he says (photo: Craig Downie).

Everyone returned to work this Monday morning with a pep in their step and launched into their cuttings with renewed vigour. Before tea break there were two separate announcements of medieval pottery finds and Penny informed us that we had our first medieval pea of the season. New volunteers Lisa, Brona and Ryan settled in well. All eyes are on the tower where Craig and Lennon  have revealed an internal dividing wall. Cutting O finally emptied at natural bedrock. John and Aidan are getting down the level of the top of the moat and have found more tile fragments and an early brick. Billy has exposed a  side wall of the flue  but there is still a lot of modern fill that needs to be removed in his and Laura cuttings.  Hugh McElveen and Catherine Bonner, with Eve, paid us a nice visit at lunch time.

Tom trowelling in his trial cutting.

Billy is getting down to the medieval layers and found this coarse cooking pottery (Leinster ware?).

Craig and Lennon cleaned up the section for this photograph of the tower deposits. They are 80cm down and have another meter to go!

Distinguished visitors to the site today: Hugh, Catherine and Eve.

Within the tower Craig has revealed the original floor level. His hard-working assistant Andrew is going off to greener pastures to  Loughcrew to work as an OPW guide. Emma, a volunteer from DKIT, is also headed for Loughcrew. Lennon took over from Andrew just in time to find an old iron key. In Cutting J the team have uncovered a setting of stones that formed the edge to the eighteenth century cobbled avenue. Laura and Billy’s team are teasing out the arrangement of the walls and kiln flue in Cuttings E and F. Penny sampled a deposit in Cutting K and has found evidence for burnt structural timbers. The small Cuttings located to catch walls continue to go down and down in Cutting O and an entrance in the precinct wall identified in the geophysics has been confirmed. Famous Meath archaeologist Kieran Campbell visited the site today and gave us his expert opinion on recently discovered tile fragments which he thinks are from ridge tiles rather than floor tiles. And so ended the first of a very satisfactory four weeks. Thanks everybody!

Penny prepares to take samples from the wall slot in Tom’s cutting.

Lennon with the key he found in the tower.

A view of the excavation at the end of day 5: Aidan left) and John (photo: Mick Mongey).

John McCullen shared some of his publications with the excavation team. John’s most recent book is A sheltered place: celebrating fifty years of the FBD Group.

Leo gives in and shares his lunch with site mascot Sophie.

This small cutting has confirmed the gap in the precinct wall that had shown up in Jo Leigh’s geophysical survey.

Billy prepares to fly the site drone.

An eighteenth century cobbled avenue, that once led to Pearson’s House, was beautifully exposed, recorded and removed today in Cutting E.  Excavation in the Covid friendly smaller cuttings revealed a charcoal rich filled trench, which Penny will sample tomorrow, and the top of what remains of the precinct wall. The day was marked by many discoveries including a  carved  sandstone fragment  found by Craig inside the tower and a piece of medieval floor tile in Cutting J. In the afternoon Anthony Mullen re-visited the site of Beaubec after forty years. Forty years ago he helped John McCullen repair the sandstone window in the tower. Just before the final whistle blew for the day, the crew in Cutting E hit a wasps nest. Watch out Comhall!

The cobbled lane in Cutting E (photo: Laura Jaervelae).

Laura fills out the feature sheets for the cobbled laneway (photo: Billy Sines).

Billy and Catherine trowelling. The way we live today.

Craig shows the sandstone moulding he found in the tower.

The crew in cutting J seem to be very happy with their lot.

Aidan shows the first piece of medieval floor tile found at Beaubec.

Tomás exposed the wall cut. A masterful piece of trowelling.

Leslie (not Lindsey), Mary and Matthew, each in their own COVID cuttings.

DCU’s finest (Leslie, right) and co-director Matthew. By the end of the day they had exposed the top of the precinct wall.

Anthony Mullen, one of today’s distinguished visitors. Forty years ago he helped John McCullen repair the sandstone window. He is looking up to make sure that it is still there.

Craig sent the Beaubec Blog a photo from another distinguished local who visited the site last year but never got his picture in the blog. We will get his name for our readers later (photo: Craig Downey).

The Beaubec archaeologists certainly made up for lost time today. John’s team have uncovered the outside edge of the moat in Cutting J. The test cuttings in search of precinct/building walls have hit a re-deposited boulder clay. In Cuttings E and F Billy has been carefully exposing the mouth of the kiln flue while Laura’s team have exposed the surface of the post medieval avenue that lead up to the Pearson house. Excitement is mounting in Cutting H within the tower where levels are dropping fast and  Craig and Andrew identified a charcoal rich deposit which was sampled by Penny, our onsite environmental archaeologist. She has already begun to sieve and process environmental samples. Catriona has been busy cataloguing the finds. Our first distinguished visitors to the site were Peadar and Marie with their dog. All are welcome if socially distant.

Father and son team Craig (right) and Andrew excavate the floor of the gate tower (photo: Billy Sines).

Environmentalist Penny Johnston is already processing samples

The exposed top of the possible precinct wall (photo: Billy Sines).

The team in Cutting J reach the top of the moat by close of play (photo: Billy Sines).

The cobbled roadway leading up to the eighteenth-century house (photo: Billy Sines).

Co-director Matthew Stout holds one of our Covid safety sticks as he shows Peadar and Marie around the excavation. Both had volunteered on the excavations at Bective 2009–12 (photo: Billy Sines).

We haven’t posted a page like this since the storms of July 2012, but today the rain was so heavy we had to call it a day. This is a hard decision to make, so many had travelled so far (some walking out in the rain) to get to the site. All were keen to keep going. But after awhile the site just gets too mucky and the work can’t be properly done. Still, a surprising amount of work was accomplished before the co-directors threw in the towel. In trial cutting K Rosanne and Lennon came down upon the wall first revealed last year in Cuttings A/D. and serious progress was made in the larger cuttings and in the tower. Tomorrow promises the be a better day, let’s hope.

A wet and empty excavation site.

Mucky shoes, Bective 2012 (photo: Paul Woods)

We had a brilliant turn out for our first day of Beaubec excavations 2020. We welcomed back many of our old crew, and a strong contingent from Fingal,  which makes Fingallian co-director Geraldine Stout very happy and proud. There are also DCU, UCD and DKIT students and local volunteers. Thankfully, the weather was kind to us. Landowner and historian John McCullen dug the ritual first sod of the season. The first find of the day was Anthony’s pierced roof slate from  inside the tower. We had two finds of horseshoes which has to be a good omen for the season. Rosanne found some medieval pottery and Lennon, Alex and Leo found large quantities of wine bottle fragments and china from below the sod. We are looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.

After a rousing welcome John McCullen hoists the ceremonial first sod.

Anthony displays the first find from the second season at Beaubec, a pierced slate from inside the tower.

Rosanne with the first find of medieval pottery.

Socially distanced lunchtime at Beaubec.

Bernie (aka not Muireann) with one of two horseshoes found on the site today. Surely this is an omen of good luck (photo: William Sines).

Cutting I towards the end of the first day (photo: William Sines).

Cutting E (background) and Cutting F (foreground) towards the end of the first day of excavation (photo: William Sines).

Excitement builds as the team prepares for Day 1. Yet rust never sleeps (no we won’t use Neil Young references this year) and the drought gave us an opportunity to get a good look at the linen mill that was at the western edge of the field. John McCullen noticed how the drought had brought up the mill’s foundations. Drone-expert Anthony Murphy was called in and he very generously captured the moment on the 30th of May.

The location of the mill east of the gate tower (Photo: Anthony Murphy)

Close-up of the mill foundations (Photo: Anthony Murphy).

After much deliberation, archaeologists Geraldine and Matthew Stout have decided to go ahead with the 2020 excavations at Beaubec. We start on Monday 6 July and finish on Friday 31 July. Covid means that we will have to make some changes, but we still hope that we can have a good time and make more important discoveries. July 6 is two weeks from today, so please, if you are planning to come to the site, obey all the Covid restrictions and be as careful as possible.