What is recorded here

On a gravel ridge beside the Newry River estuary, two small hearths and fire-hardened clay marked a place where finished objects were polished rather than crude metal cast. The work likely used oak fuel and sat near corn-drying kilns, suggesting a busy riverside household rather than a distant factory. A willow charcoal fragment dated the activity between AD 1044 and 1218, placing quiet skilled hands at that slope before the bridge ever crossed the water.

Situated on the slight NE-facing slope of gravel ridge between the high and low water marks on the SW shore of the Newry River estuary. Archaeological excavation (E 4498) in advance of a new bridge recorded a metal-working area and two corn-drying kilns. The evidence of metal-working consisted of two small hearths and a spread of fire-hardened clay and ash extending E from one of the hearths. The metalworking was the finishing of objects and very little slag was recovered. Oak was the principal firing material used and a radiocarbon date of AD 1044-1218 is recorded from a piece of willow charcoal. (Walsh 2015, 305-06) Date of upload: 25 October, 2016

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