Craigpark House and Souterrain Excavation

DURING the process of stripping top-soil at the quarry owned by Mr. George Peden at Craig Hill, near Bushmills, early in 1954 the workmen partially uncovered a stone-built souterrain together with the fragmentary remains of an associated surface structure.


The site is on the northern slope of the hill a few yards south of the road which branches towards Drumyaran Bridge from the Bushmills-Billy road; it is situated opposite the junction of a side road leading north towards the group of buildings called Turfahun. No indications of an earthwork enclosing the excavated structures can be seen and the first (1833) edition of the O.S. 6 in. map records no feature of this nature. It appears probable, therefore, that the souterrain and associated house comprised an open settlement, lacking the protection of any form of defensive enclosure.

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