This rectangular enclosure, measuring 27 metres east to west and 26 metres north to south, sits within mixed woodland and represents one of the many defensive homesteads that once dotted the Irish countryside. The site’s defining features include substantial earthen banks that rise about a metre from the interior and stand 1.5 metres high when viewed from outside, creating an impressive defensive perimeter that would have been even more formidable in its heyday.

What makes this site particularly intriguing is its sophisticated defensive design, which includes a flat-bottomed moat surrounding the inner banks. This water-filled ditch, varying between 3 and 7 metres in width at its base and reaching depths of 1.6 metres, would have served both as a defensive barrier and possibly as a source of fresh fish for the inhabitants. Beyond the moat, an outer bank approximately 3 metres wide and half a metre high provided an additional layer of protection. The builders thoughtfully included a narrow entrance, just 1.8 metres wide, through the inner bank on the southern side, accessed via a 4-metre-wide causeway that allowed residents and visitors to cross the moat safely.

These moated sites, which appeared across Ireland particularly during the Anglo-Norman period, were typically home to wealthy farming families who needed protection in what could be uncertain times. The Growtown Upper site, first documented by Barry in 1977 and later included in the Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford in 1996, offers a window into medieval rural life when security and status went hand in hand. The careful construction, with its multiple defensive layers and controlled access point, suggests this was once home to a family of considerable means who invested heavily in their safety whilst maintaining their agricultural holdings in the surrounding landscape.