Bakery

The National Monuments Service's description

The ward of the castle provided space for various buildings or structures, dating largely to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but a precise date cannot be provided in most instances. Some structures, identified by the presence of clay pipe fragments, were built in the seventeenth century, and can probably be related directly to the military operations around the castle in the 1640s. Two successive ovens or kilns were built in the NW tower of the forework fortification (ME036-048082-), the walls of which were probably derelict by this time (Hayden 2011, 277-8). Isolated hearths and ovens were a feature of the period and are found in the keep (ME036-048004-) where some of the Level 1 embrasures were widened to take artillery pieces. Hearths, probably for casting lead-shot, are found in the great hall (ME036-048079-) and its solar (ME036-048080-), which are probably roofless structures at this time (ibid. 280-1).
A crudely built bakehouse was constructed just SE of the old mint building (ME036-048087-). It is a narrow structure (int. dims 18m plus NW-SE; 3.5m NE-SW) with clay-bonded walls (Wth 0.7-0.85m), and it has an oven (int. diam. 2.3m) at its NW end. Its walls overlay the drains from the forework and the well (ME036-048084-) and appear to impinge on those of the mint. The fragmentary, grass-covered walls are still preserved at ground level. (Hayden 2019, 279)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

See the attached view of the bakery under excavation: _1 R

Date of upload: 11 July 2019

References

Hayden, A. 2011. Trim Castle, Co. Meath: Excavations 1995-8. Dublin, Stationary Office: Archaeological Monograph Series, No. 6.