Linear earthwork in Ratoath

Located within the town of Ratoath, between the motte and bailey and the church. Archaeological monitoring (01E1173) by F. O’Carroll of the line of a sewer under the footpath (D c. 06.-1.6m) adjacent to the extended graveyard (ME044-034017-) and on the line of a new road constructed in 1795 identified a number of features including an open linear ditch (excavations.ie 2001: 1042). The layer of blue/grey compact earth beneath the road surface dips into a wide trench (Wth 1.8m plus) which was not bottomed (D 1m plus) but has straight sides. The large ditch appears to be running WNW-ESE and is aligned with a substantial WNW-ESE drain that is mapped c. 150m to the W and c. 100m to the E on the 1908 edition of the OS 6-inch map and which is still partly open. It is possible that this ditch marked the N boundary of the medieval settlement and that smaller cuts that appeared in the section are the boundaries of the burgage plots as recorded on the OS 6-inch maps. No artefacts were recovered from these features but post-medieval pottery was recorded from the closing layer of this larger ditch. (O’Carroll 2002, 11) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 9 December 2021 O’Carroll, F. 2002 Archaeological monitoring at Kentstown Road, Ratoath, Co. Meath. Licence No. 01E1173. Unpublished report, CRDS