Well-Preserved 300-Year-Old Remains of a Building Complex Discovered in Ireland, Archaeologists Call It a 'Surprise Find'

An astonishingly well-preserved 300-year-old complex of buildings, remarkably few of its type have survived, has been discovered during routine drainage work at the Castle Ward estate in County Down, Ireland, completely catching archaeologists off guard, stated BBC. The foundations of a courtyard and surrounding structures were found beneath thick vegetation while workers were installing a drain filtration system at the National Trust property. What originally looked like a couple of exposed red bricks abruptly became so much more significant.

"What looked like just a few bricks at the start just kept expanding and expanding once we went in with the machine to investigate what it was," as put by Michael Fearon with Northern Archaeological Consultancy, one of those in charge of the work where the finding was made, stated Independent.

Excavation revealed a complex of buildings focused on a cobbled courtyard. Many of the buildings had either tiled or flagged floors; there was a sink, a fireplace, a cellar, and an extensive stone-lined drainage system. Artifacts scattered around the site included shards of intact ceramic pottery, glass bottles, and discarded animal bones bearing the evidence of butchering.

Malachy Conway, regional archaeologist for the National Trust in Northern Ireland, said the find was unexpected. "There was nothing on our maps that was showing anything to be there and then, lo and behold, they stumble upon and suddenly find previously unknown building remains," he said, as per Independent. This was particularly interesting because the route of the drainage system had been laboriously routed using historic maps to avoid areas of known archaeological significance. These are thought to be from the late 1600s and early 1700s, so that would make these newly discovered structures even earlier than the Castle Ward mansion that's there now, which they started building in the 1760s. This area most likely contained dwellings that served as both domestic and farm service functions, which scholars have associated with a primary Castle Ward house constructed during the 18th century. 

One consideration explaining the possible motive behind the later demolition of these features indeed concerns aesthetics. "We're thinking that, maybe, our collection of buildings existed before the Castle Ward main house of today was constructed and it might have been an eyesore from the window, so they decided to demolish that just so that it was not in view out their windows," Fearon explained. "They wouldn't have wanted anything that would detract from the natural landscape," according to The Scottish Farmer.

The structures appear to have served practical purposes rather than residential ones. Conway said, "By and large, these are non-residential buildings, it's almost a sort of mini-stable yard, or it's a place where you've got possibly a little dairy or maybe where the laundry was. We think this was the precursor to what was then built at the new house, the stable yards you see today," stated The Leader Live.