Moated site, Jamestown, Co. Westmeath
The moated site at Jamestown in County Westmeath sits on a gentle rise in rolling farmland, offering clear views across the surrounding countryside.
Moated site, Jamestown, Co. Westmeath
This medieval earthwork takes the form of a roughly rectangular enclosure, defended by a series of banks and ditches that would have provided both protection and status to its inhabitants. Just 80 metres to the southwest lies a ringfort with an associated hut site, suggesting this area held strategic importance for centuries.
The site’s defensive architecture follows a classic medieval pattern: an inner bank enclosing the main living area, a water-filled ditch (or fosse) running around the perimeter, and fragments of an outer bank that once formed an additional barrier. The eastern side features the original entrance, marked by a causeway approximately 5 metres wide that would have allowed access across the defensive ditch. Time and agriculture have taken their toll on the monument; cultivation ridges from later farming cut across the interior in an east-west direction, whilst a more recent field boundary has been built into the western outer bank.
Archaeological surveys, including aerial photographs from 1966, reveal the monument’s footprint with remarkable clarity despite centuries of weathering. The flat-bottomed fosse and the careful positioning of the entrance causeway demonstrate the practical defensive considerations of medieval builders, whilst the interior’s southeast-facing slope would have provided good drainage for any structures within. Though the outer defences have largely eroded along the southern portion of the eastern side, the site remains an impressive example of medieval earthwork engineering in the Irish midlands.