Kiln — corn-drying in Phoenixtown

Situated on a slight E-facing slope in a gently undulating landscape. An area of intense agricultural processing was first identified in 2004 in centre-line testing (04E0923) on the M3 motorway, and set aside for resolution as Phoenixtown 2 (Keith 2007). A geophysical survey (02R058) highlighted the complexity of the material (Bartlett 2002), and subsequently a large area (dims c. 100m NW-SE; c. 45m NE-SW) within the way-leave was excavated (E003129) in 2006 and 2007 (Lyne 2010, 2010a). The principal feature revealed was an E-W roadway, together with five corn-drying kilns, a threshing floor, a well and water-hole, and the corner of a house in the immediate vicinity of the road. On ceramic evidence all the features date from the late twelfth to the fourteenth century, but the area was cut by numerous large pits (diam. c. 2-3m; D 0.3-0.9m to dims c. 6-9m x c. 2-3m; D 1m) and many smaller ones which contained a mix of largely local medieval wares, dating generally to the same period. There was very little intrusive material, although prehistoric lithics do occur (ibid. 27-34, 39-48). There were also numerous furrows, generally aligned N-S or E-W that cut through most other features over the area and represent the last activity on the site (ibid. 48-55) but the ceramics recovered date generally to the thirteenth and fourteenth century. The earliest features are some disjointed sections of field boundaries with associated plough furrows (ibid. 5). (Lyne 2008) The name Phoenixtown is derived from the Irish Baile na bhfionnóg – town of the (grey?) crow - which was anglicised as Finnogestown (Murphy 2010, ccxii). The barony of Lower Navan was granted by Hugh de Lacy to Jocelin de Angulo at the start of the Anglo-Norman settlement of Meath in 1172, but there is no record of the initial sub-infeudation. In 1318 the manor of Martry, which was probably as large as the medieval parish, had reverted to the King because its holder, Walter de Say, was guilty of a felony, probably committed during the Bruce campaign (1314-18). Martry was granted to Hugh de Turpelton, but in 1324 possession had passed to Miles de Verdon. An inquisition into the value of Marty at this time mentions Fenokston for the first time, and amongst the free tenants David Beg, Adam Beg, and Richard Lewati hold a carucate of land (c. 300 acres) at Fenokston, and these families were probably the owners of the agricultural enterprise in the excavated area. The ownership of the manor of Martry is uncertain for the rest of the century but by 1415 it had passed to the Darcy family. However, the Beg name recurs in documents through the fourteenth century (ibid. ccix). This kiln (B) is just S of the road. It is keyhole-shaped (dims 2.25m NW-SE; 1.7m NE-SW; D 0.33m) and stone-lined with a stone base to the channel, and it was filled with charcoal-rich layers. The opening to the kiln was a shallow curving channel (L 0.95m) to the SE and there are two air-intake vents. Two nearby hearths could also be associated with it, and gorse was the fuel used in the kiln. Only small quantities of grain including wheat, barley and oats were recovered. Pottery associations, including a sherd of Redcliffe ware suggest a twelfth to thirteenth century date, but a calibrated C14 date of AD 1440-1618 was returned from a sample of hazel charcoal. (Lyne 2010, 12-13) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 11 July 2019