Building in Carrickmines Great

Breen (2012, 44-57) recorded the following details about Structure A from Trenches T2, T5 and T6 at Carrickmines Castle (DU026-005001-); 'The earliest medieval features excavated at Carrickmines were located in the area immediately south-west of the unexcavated ‘island’. These features have been divided into two phases of undefended pre-castle structures, comprising two possible building structures [DU026-005008/009-] with related kiln (medieval phase 1) [DU026-005007-] and a horizontal mill [DU026-005004-] with associated features (medieval phase 2). The features which compose the horizontal mill, with its accompanying head- and tail-races, provide a clear stratigraphic watershed. The mill phase truncated two specific areas of early activity. One was represented by the kiln (features F868, F867 and F675) and the other was a large linear boundary ditch (F82). Whereas the kiln has been interpreted as belonging to the earliest phase of activity, associated with Structure A to the Southwest (phase 1), linear feature F82 appeared as an isolated feature which truncated Structure A and was cut by the headrace of the mill and therefore separated phases 1 and 2. Structure A was located at the western perimeter of the excavated Southfield and it could be traced in Trenches T2, T5 and T6. The features associated with the structure consisted of two slot-trenches or gullies (F101 and F568), four boundary ditches (F635, F96, F85 and F649), five narrower slots which may have been internal divisions (F564, F582, F569, F570 and F587), one hearth (F604), three postholes (F559, F588 and F601), four pits (F95, F597, F594 and F550), one quarry pit (F567), three circular kilns (F543, F544 and F545) and two shallow linear features (F556 and F558). Some of these appear to represent the remains of a truncated structure, with the hearth suggesting domestic activity and the three kilns represent an industrial activity such as metal- or glass-working. There were two distinct sub-phases of activity here, represented by the replacement of gully F101 by a similar gully, F568, with a completely different orientation, and a re-cut and addition to the boundary ditch F635 with F649 and F96. The large ditch F82 truncated the last sub-phase of the structure, presumably after this had been abandoned. As Structure A was one of the earliest features in the Southfield it did not truncate any earlier features but was cut into the natural soil. The natural soil was made up of coarse, mottled sand with clay, silt and sand pockets and frequent inclusions of decayed stones, natural cobble-size stones and occasional protruding outcrops of bedrock. The structure was situated on a northern down-slope at the top of the field and apart from the features already mentioned in association with Structure A, no further features excavated in the vicinity have been interpreted as contemporary with this phase of activity. Structure A appears to have been undefended. No contemporary fosses or other defensive features were found, and there were no stone structures. The earliest sub-phase of Structure A The features associated with the first sub-phase of Structure A were the southern gully F101, the northern boundary ditch F635, the three postholes F559, F588 and F601 as well as the two external linear agricultural features F556 and F558, two miscellaneous pits F95 and F594 and an irregular shaped medieval quarry pit F567. The two largest features in this primary phase were a ditch (F635) running E-W and a gully (F101) partly running parallel to F635, 13.50m to the south, but then turning north-eastwards and passing 4.00m to the east of the end of F635. The only definite traces of a structure are three postholes: F559, F601 and F588. The latter was larger than the other two, and was not in the same alignment. The first two suggest a structure with a north-south (or east-west) alignment. Posthole F588 is next to gully F101 and may have predated it, as does the sub-circular pit F597, situated 1.50m to the west. The area between F635 and F101 was completely empty of features, with no traces of domestic refuse, remains of a hearth or rakings of charcoal, soot or ash. To the west of F101, two features (F556, F558) appeared to be plough furrows, suggesting that the structure was a farmhouse or outbuilding. Feature descriptions for the earliest phase of Structure A Sub-circular shaped pit F597 This feature was a sub-circular shaped pit filled with what resembled redeposited natural coarse sand and gravel, mottled in colour, and natural stones (C1042, C1136 in T2). The fill also contained medieval pottery such as Leinster Cooking Ware and Dublin Type Ware. The pit had been truncated by ditch F101 to the south, but from east to west the feature extended from T6 into T2. The extent of the feature was difficult to see at the pre-excavation stage, as the surrounding natural was very similar. The feature was very irregular in plan as well as having irregularities in the sides and base. This feature belonged to the earliest phase of activities in the area. The relationship to other features in the vicinity is uncertain. Although F101 truncated F597, it was unlikely that these belong to two distinct phases, but rather that F597 only slightly pre-dated F101. Ditch F101 This ditch was mostly within T2, but extended for c.1m into T6. At its western end in T6, it was 1.80-1.55m wide, but it appeared to taper to a width of 0.60m in Trench 5. F101 maintained a depth of 0.45-0.50m throughout its entirety and the excavated length was 21.00m. The sides were concave and with sharp break of slope, both on the top and base, and were mostly flat but became rounded towards the terminus in T6. From T6, F101 continued directly east for about 5m whereupon it turned towards the north-northeast. The feature contained three fills. The bottom fill (C1098) was coarse, silty sand which extends along the entire feature. F101 has two top fills, C1043 and C189; they have been recorded as abutting each other since the change-over was very diffuse and the exact relationship was impossible to determine. In T6 and about half-way into T5, the top fill (C1043) was a coarse sand with clay inclusions containing a large amount of medieval Leinster Cooking Ware pottery. C189 was brown/grey sandy silt which also contained medieval pottery. F101 had been truncated at numerous stages by both medieval and post-medieval features and it in turn truncated earlier medieval features. In the east this gully was truncated by a later ditch, F82, and it is not certain whether it continued on the other side of this. Boundary ditch F635 F635 was a shallow ditch which ran WNW-ESE for approximately 30m through Trenches T12 and T6 and continued for c.5m into Trench 5 where it terminated in a rounded end. Width and depth varied but the ditch was generally narrower and shallower towards the east. Sides were either sloping or slightly concave and the base was flat. The fill of the ditch consisted of a thin layer of silt C1011 and a layer of fine sand C1003, both of which were part of the natural silting-up process. Underneath these a deposit of sandy silt was situated along the northwestern edge of the ditch, possibly a collapse of spoil from the creation of the ditch. C999 and C1123 were backfill contexts of F635 and they contained moderate amounts of medieval pottery and fragments of animal bone. Although the thin layers of natural silting suggest that the ditch might not have been filled with water for long, it seems to have been open and in use during at least the first and some of the second phase of Structure A. Where the ditch terminated in T5, another smaller medieval ditch (F96) either cut F635 or was created as an extension to it. This ran towards the south-east. The western end, in Trench T12, terminated at a large protrusion of bedrock and a stone-filled quarry-pit F4387. In this area, the ditch was U-shaped in section, with one main fill, C4692. This was the primar