Moated site, Brownstown, Co. Westmeath
In the undulating pastureland of Brownstown, County Westmeath, a rectangular earthwork sits atop the eastern face of a natural hillock.
Moated site, Brownstown, Co. Westmeath
This moated site, measuring approximately 22 metres northwest to southeast by 35 metres northeast to southwest, consists of a poorly preserved earthen bank surrounding a wide, flat-bottomed fosse. The monument has suffered considerable damage over the centuries, particularly from the south and west-southwest where levelling has occurred, causing the interior to slope from west-southwest to east-northeast.
The site forms part of a cluster of earthworks in the area, with two similar monuments located nearby; one 100 metres to the southeast and another 120 metres to the south. These defensive structures likely date to the medieval period, when such moated sites were commonly constructed by Anglo-Norman settlers and wealthy landowners to protect their homesteads. The surrounding landscape remains characteristically wet in places, which would have enhanced the defensive capabilities of the water-filled fosse that once encircled the site.
Modern interventions have both damaged and inadvertently enriched our understanding of the monument. During the construction of a septic tank in the northwest quadrant of the interior, workers discovered a George II penny dated 1744, suggesting the site continued to see activity well into the 18th century. While the earthwork’s original medieval inhabitants remain unknown, this Georgian coin hints at the monument’s enduring significance in the local landscape, perhaps serving agricultural purposes or as casual shelter long after its defensive role had ended.