House - medieval

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a gentle E-facing slope. Archaeological testing (18E0526) during September 2018 in advance of development identified extensive archaeological features including the ditch of the ecclesiastical enclosure (WX015-003031-) of the early monastery of St. Máedóg and a contemporary rectangular enclosure (WX015-003037-) attached to the ecclesiastical enclosure on the inside. A rectangular structure (dims c. 10m NW-SE; c. 6m NE-SW) is in the interior. This is a collection of pits and post-holes as well as a hearth, but its SW side had been truncated by modern features. No pottery or artefacts were recovered from the enclosure or the structure. Outside the SE edge of this enclosure were a number of large pits, the largest of which (dims 2m x 1.8m; D 3.25m) was dug through the outer edge of the ecclesiastical enclosure ditch. The pits were often straight sided, indicating that they might have been timber-lined. This area (dims c. 40m NE-SW; c. 8m NW-SE) also produced copious evidence of metal-working centred on the SE ditch of the rectangular enclosure. This consisted of hearths, pits, a structure, the bases of furnaces, waste slag, and a metalled surface with evidence of smithing above and below it.
Just SE of the pits were two houses aligned parallel with the ecclesiastical enclosure and c. 5m from it, perhaps indicating the former presence of an inner bank. The metalled surface of a path ran past the NE edges of both the N house (dims 11m NW-SE; 6.5m NE-SW) and the S house (dims c. 13m NW-SE; c. 6.5m NE-SW). The houses were severely truncated but a hearth did survive in the N one, and the contents of pits associated with them indicates that they were inhabited. (McLoughlin 2020a, 2020b)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 18 November 2020

References

McLoughlin, C. 2020a From early to late: uncovering medieval Ferns. Archaeology Ireland, 132, vol. 34, No. 2, 30-4.

McLoughlin, C. 2020b Preliminary Archaeological Excavation Report, Castleland, Ferns, Co. Wexford. Licence: 18E0526. Unpublished report, Stafford/McLoughlin