Church (in Ruins) — Rathdown Upper

Situated on a gentle E-facing slope in gently undulating pasture overlooking a small stream 35m to S and the coastline of the Irish Sea 290m to E. Site of Rathdown Castle (WI008-011----) and deserted medieval settlement (WI008-011002-) 200m to NE. Known locally as St Crispin's Cell, present remains consist of a small single cell church (ext. dims. 5.43m N-S; 6.98m E -W; Wall T 0.7m) with square-shaped porch at W end. The well preserved walls are upstanding to the eaves and are built with rubble and granite with quartzitic quoins. The church is entered through the entrance porch (ext. dims. 3.2m E-W x 3.3m N-S; wall T 0.8m) via a doorway on the S wall. Off the porch a round-headed door in the centre of the W wall gives access to the interior of the church. The church was lit by flat-headed windows with timber lintels (removed) in the E and S walls. A small niche or aumbry (dims. H 0.4m x Wth 0.46m x D 0.25m) is visible in S wall located off centre to E. The church appears to be an 18th-century reconstruction using cut granite jambs, arches and threshold stones of a medieval church. Some tufa is used in the E window. At the NW angle substantial plinth stones projecting beyond the present church wall to the W suggests that the medieval church was partially beneath St. Crispin's Celll and was located to the NW of the cell. The 1985 the following earthworks to the N of the church were described as following; 'Surrounding the church on all sides except at S, are grass-covered mounds with some stone protruding. These may contain some stone from an older building of which there is no trace. The mounds are 4-5m wide and c. 0.5m H and extend 5-10m from St. Crispin's Cell' (ASI Field Report 06/06/1985). In the early 17th century the associated graveyard (WI008-012002-) was cleared and the disinterred bodies and gravestones were buried elsewhere (O'Flanagan 1928, 39-41). In 1827 a local man of 97 years of age gave the following account about the building; 'The small Chapel or cell of St. Crispin. It is entered by a porch, placed at the west end and was lighted by one circular-headed window; it is now unroofed and the walls clothed with ivy; the adjacent ground does not appear to have been used as a cemetery, although the body of a seaman, washed on shore near Rathdown Castle was intered here' (Wright 1827, 19-20). In 1838 the Ordnance Survey Letters recorded that 'No one in the neighbourhood of Rathdown now remembers anything of the church thus razed, but they remember that the bones were all dug up from the graveyard of the little church of St. Crispin and buried in one pit at the east end, by some bad man. The little Cell of St. Crispin is now 23 feet [7m] long and 14 [4.25m] broad. The window in the east gable is six feet [1.8m] high by six feet [1.8m] in breadth, and square at the head, the lintel, which appears from the impression in the mortar to have been of wood, taken away at no remote period. There is another window in the south wall two feet ten inches [0.86m] each way, square head, and the lintel not very long taken away. The entrance was through a porch at the west end, to the door which is 7 feet [2.1m] high, with a round arch formed of two stones, cut as are the jambs. A good coat of white washed plaster remains on the door and on the gable inside, on the whole it does not appear to be an old Cell at all, but looks rather like a little chapel of ease constructed some two 100 years ago from the materials of an older building of what kind it is hard to say' (O'Flanagan 1928,40). In 1993 a geophysical survey was carried out by Geoquest Associates of Durham, England under licence No. 93E0187 in the field containing St. Crispin's Cell and in the field to the W of the church. Magnetometer and selective resistivity survey of the west field indicated a relatively featureless geophysical terrain. Five small areas had positive magnetic lines which were interpreted as possible shallow ditches. Work in the east field revealed a series of features, possibly shallow ditches, most pronounced in a 40m x 40m area north-west of the church. Excavation was undertaken by Charles Mount in 1993 under licence No. 93E0187. The excavation examined the south-western corner of the east field and the “hollow way” (WI008-072----) which runs in a north–south direction across the western end of this field. A series of trenches was excavated in the west field to assess the deposits there. Sixteen cuttings were excavated but only Cuttings 2 and 14 produced archaeological features. Cutting 2, situated in the western part of the west field, measured 20m x 1m and was excavated to 0.6m in depth. The stratigraphy consisted of dark brown ploughsoil to a depth of 0.5m overlying the natural grey to orange clay with stones. In the western end of this cutting was situated Feature 1, a functioning land drain and in the eastern part Feature 2 was uncovered. This consisted of an oval pit, 1.95m x 1.55m with sloping sides and measuring 0.44m in internal depth. The fill was a sandy soil, light brown and loosely compacted, covering a black sticky soil with a high charcoal content. The pit contained a single oyster shell and nine pieces of animal bone. An area centering on Feature 2, measuring 10m x 9m, was opened and the ploughsoil removed. Five features, 3–7, were revealed in the enlarged area. Feature 3 north-east of Feature 2, was a posthole, 0.17m in width and 0.13m in depth. The fill was grey with charcoal staining. There were two stones on the northern edge, a possible post packing. Feature 4, a small oval pit north-west of Feature 3, was 0.26m x 0.14m and 0.14m in depth. The fill contained charcoal. Feature 5, south-east of Feature 2, was a small pit or posthole, 0.54m in width and 0.21m in depth. It contained a dark organic soil with charcoal and small stones above a light brown sandy soil with a high stone and gravel content. Feature 6, south-east of Feature 5, was an oval post-hole 0.25m x 0.15m and 0.25m in depth. It contained a brown soil with charcoal inclusions and small stones which sealed a black organic soil. Feature 7, south-south-west of Feature 2, was a posthole, 0.54m x 0.52m and 0.31m in depth. It contained a brown soil containing charcoal which sealed a layer with no charcoal. Cutting 14 examined the hollow way. It measured 20m x 1m and was excavated to 1.03m in depth. In 2016 a gradiometer and resistance survey was undertaken by Leigh Surveys under licence No. 16R0063 in the area to the W and N of St. Crispin's Cell (Burbridge et. al. 2017, 38; Leigh 2016,7). The results of the detailed gradiometer survey around St Crispin’s Church was summarised by Leigh Surveys as following; the survey 'has identified several responses indicative of rectilinear ditched features, perhaps indicative of a small field system. Curvilinear trends in the gradiometer data and fragmented high resistance responses in the resistance survey are evident to the north of the church. These may represent an outer enclosure of the church, although this is speculative' (Leigh 2016). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wicklow' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 26 July 2018