Church in Glebe (newcastle By., Wickow Rural Ed)

Situated at a break in a marked S/SE-facing slope. Traditionally the site of the church of Drumkay; not visible at ground level. A Romanesque doorway (Leask 1955, 160-61) and a tub-shaped limestone font (H 0.42m; Wth 0.56m; basin diam. 0.24m) with cushion capitals at the front and sides were removed from here and placed in the Protestant parish church in Wicklow Town. The location of this church site is incorrectly indicated on all editions of the OS 6-inch map. In 2006, fourteen archaeological features/deposits were uncovered during test excavation under licence no. 06E0273 in Glebe townland, Co. Wicklow. The test excavation was undertaken in advance of a proposed housing development at the site. The deposit types identified in the assessment consisted of ditches (field enclosures dating from between ad 1000 and 1800) and 18th-century brick-manufacturing deposits. The most interesting discovery was the identification of a substantial hearth within a rectangular house foundation in Trench 13. A rectangular ‘church’ building is illustrated on the first-edition of the OS as ‘site of the church of Drumkay’ in this location (WI011–025). Other features and deposits such as pits, a possible corn-drying kiln and the foundations of a masonry wall were also identified throughout the remainder of the site. There was no definitive evidence to suggest that the features identified in the separate trenches were contemporary. Archaeological deposits similar to those described above were also uncovered in an assessment carried out by William O. Frazer close to the site (Bennett 2004, 542-3). Significantly, no characteristic church-type deposits, burials, church masonry or ecclesiastical structural remains were found in the test-trenches. The testing demonstrated that the church of Drumkay was not located within the RMP constraint circle, although a ‘building’ with a hearth was discovered within the constraint circle. It is clear from the OS mapping that this structure was no longer standing in 1837, although the foundations must have been visible and recorded in error as the church site. These findings suggest that either the church site of Drumkay is located beyond the current test-trench locations, or that the nature of the recorded monument is not consistent with a typical church site. Postscript: Subsequent to the testing on this site, archaeological excavations in a neighbouring part of Glebe townland uncovered the church and graveyard of Drumkay (Bennett 2009, 574-5). In 2006 a significant excavation under licence no. 06E0091 was undertaken in Glebe townland under Knockrobbin Hill. A previously unlocated church and cemetery site was discovered adjacent to the Rathnew/Wicklow town road. A total of 191 burials were uncovered, enclosed within a series of ditches. The burials date from the early medieval period (c. ad 600) and appear to continue in an unbroken sequence up to at least ad 1600. The foundations of a stone church were also recorded during the excavations. It is suggested that the discovery is the church site of ‘Drumkay’. Previous documentary and cartographic evidence suggested that the site was located c. 400m to the north-east (Bennett 2009, 578). The church, Phase I The foundations of a substantial stone church were uncovered in the centre of the site. The primary church building measured 14.65m east–west by 7.3m externally. The walls were between 1 and 1.3m wide with an interior space of 12.35m east–west by 5.18m. The southern wall of the church was orientated east–west (280°W, 100°E). It was c. 15m in length, with the south-west corner located beyond the limit of excavation. It survived to a maximum height of 0.85m. The wall was constructed with roughly hewn limestone blocks, light to mid-grey in colour. The size of the stones varied considerably, with the largest measuring 0.69m by 0.34m by 0.12m and the smallest 0.22m by 0.12m by 0.04m. It appeared to be constructed of random coursing. This wall turned north at the east end and continued for c. 3.7m, where it was removed by later phases of activity. The church, Phase II The east wall of the church was clearly removed at some point. A new east wall was constructed 1.6m to the west. Thus the remodelled church (Phase II) was shorter than the original building. The Phase II structure measured 12.05m east–west by 7.3m externally. The walls were once again between 1 and 1.3m wide with an interior space of 9.35m east–west by 5.18m. The new east wall was 5.1m long. It is probable that this wall abutted the northern wall of the church, which was visible in test-trenches located outside the road-take. The wall survived to a width of 1m at its south end and widened to 1.5m to the north. It was constructed of very mixed masonry. Four large granite boulders formed the core of the wall. Three of these were of a similar size and measured c. 0.74m by 0.61m by 0.51m, while the fourth was approximately half that size. The rest of the masonry consisted of a mix of limestone and shale. There was no evidence of mortar, but clay had been packed between the stones as a bonding. There was no obvious coursing. There was some evidence of facing on the east side, but this was not substantial. The wall survived to a maximum height of 0.58m, with some sections as low as 0.13m. The church, Phase III A walled annexe or ancillary building was added to the eastern end of the church. The annexe measured 4.2m east–west by 5.5m externally, with internal dimensions of 3.5m east–west by 4m. The east wall of the annexe building (F841) was 4m to the east of the Phase II church and parallel to the earlier east wall. The annexe wall was built from rubble. It was clearly later than the Phase I and Phase II building, as the base of its foundation was higher than the bases of the other walls; it was also stratigraphically above the east end of the Phase I church wall. It measured 5m long and survived to a width varying between 0.2 and 0.51m. It was of mixed rubble construction, which included limestone, granite, sandstone and a small amount of mudstone. A number of burials were interred over this wall, including Burial XXX, which was directly over it. The wall was robbed-out in places, with a gap where a later burial cut through it. A large sandstone boulder (0.55m by 0.59m by 0.29m) at the north end of F841 marked the corner between it (F841) and the north wall (F776) of the annexe. The north wall ran east–west. It survived only to a height of one to two courses and was constructed of smaller stones than the rest of the walls associated with the church, with a mixture of sandstone, limestone and mudstone. The stones varied from 0.15m by 0.08m by 0.08m, to 0.36m by 0.26m by 0.06m. This may suggest that it was associated with a separate phase of construction, probably contemporary with F841. F776 survived to a total length of 3.75m (including the sandstone boulder linking F776 with F841). It measured 0.47m in width at the western end, widening to 0.61m at the point where it turned to join the east wall (F841). Ditches and boundaries The church was surrounded by three enclosure ditches and a fourth post-medieval field boundary. The earliest of these was also the innermost ditch, which was located at the brow of the hill. It was excavated to a length of 26.5m and continued under the western baulk of the site. The terminal of the ditch was quite ephemeral and appeared to slope gradually upwards to the east. This ditch had a maximum depth of 0.75m and contained two fills. The lower fill was a mid-brown silty clay, with moderate inclusions of small stones (c. 0.05m in diameter) and a maximum depth of 0.34m. The upper fill was mid-orangey-brown silty/sandy clay with similar inclusions to the lower fill. This fill had a depth of 0.24m. There were no finds from this ditch. It was cut on its southern side by the second ditch. This was recorded over a 19m length, with a maximum depth of 0.6m and width of 2m. No definitive terminus was identified