Brews Hill, Navan

Area

179 m²

Buildings

3 buildings touch it, 632 m² on the ground

Zoning

M2 B1 - Commercial Town or Village Centre (Meath County Development Plan 2021-2027) The objective

Townland

Abbeyland South

Planning applications on this parcel

No planning application touches this parcel in the national file, which goes back to 2010.

Source: National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Applicants are not shown.

Designated sites

No designated site (Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, Natural Heritage Area or proposed one) touches this parcel.

Recorded monuments around it

This parcel is in the zone of notification of 24 recorded monuments.

• ME025-024 Religious house - Augustinian canons
  Description

  The abbey of St. Mary at Navan may have been founded before the Anglo-Norman settlement of Meath, as an abbot witnesses a charter of 1174-84 and it seems to have been well established by then. It might have been founded on an older church site of Nuachonghail that had been established by St. Fechin in the sixth century (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 399). John de Courcy confirmed the church of St. Mary’s to the Augustinian canons in 1189, and abbots are mentioned sporadically thereafter. In 1450 abbot John Bole obtained indulgences to fund the adornment of the abbey and the following year managed to appropriate the church at Ardbraccan in an effort to restore its finances. He became archbishop of Armagh in 1457 when Peter White succeeded as abbot. In 1488 abbot Richard Nangle was implicated in the Lambert Simnel fiasco but received a pardon. (Cogan 1862-70, 1, 224-9; Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 189-90). At the Suppression in 1539-40 the church was declared to have been parochial from time immemorial, although the buildings were ruinous, including a fortified structure that was integral to the defences of the town. It owned three mills and 140 acres in demesne. They held a castle at Newcastle and 14 named cottiers provided rents and service on the demesne. A further 60 acres were held in demesne at Robinrath. Sixty acres were owned at the unknown manor of Angevylston (Allenstown?), 110 acres at Foghan Hill and 40 acres at Knockamore (Knockumber?). There were smaller individual properties, and they had the profits of the churches of Navan, Ardbrackan, Kilshine, and Liscartan. They also held property in Co. Louth. Although much of this was waste, in terms of land ownership St. Mary’s was one of the wealthiest abbeys in Meath (White 1943, 250-55). The abbey was located N of Navan, between the town and the NW-SE River Blackwater. Although the Visitation Books of bishops Montgomery in 1615 and Ussher in 1622 describe the church in good repair (Ellison 1963, 34) bishop Dopping’s Visitation (1682-5) records the church as in ruins since 1641, although surrounded by a stone wall (Ellison 1972, 10). In 1693 Dopping records the inscriptions of many monuments in the church (Reynell 1888-91). It was transformed into a cavalry barracks subsequently, and Cogan (1862-70, 1, 228) deplores the abuse it suffered at the hands of the military. However, Hickey (1975) avers that carved stones from the graveyard could have been moved to Slane (ME019-021----; ME019-026001-) and some others are in the grounds of St Mary’s Roman Catholic church (ME025-044020-). The font (Roe 1968, 89-91) is now in St Mary's Church of Ireland church (ME025-044009-). No trace of the abbey can now be identified, although its site is known. (Bradley and King 1985, 99-100) Three test-trench (18E0327) by C. Walsh (2018) on the site of the Augustinian abbey identified some walls and paving from the Cavalry barracks established on the site c. 1750 as well as one wall which may have been from the abbey. A further nine trenches (19E0124) were excavated by D. McIlreavy (McIlreavy and Coughlan 2020) in 2019 (excavations.ie 2019:662. This demonstrated that the W edge of the development area was dominated by eighteenth century demolition material from the barracks. Some truncated mortar-bonded and clay-bonded walls and a mortar floor are thought to relate to the barracks, but medieval ceramics were recovered from clay-bonded walls and from under the mortar floor. In total five severely truncated E-W inhumations and many disturbed remains were also recorded. These are likely to be from the formal graveyard associated with the medieval abbey. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 17 December, 2014 Amended: 29 March 2023 McIlreavy, D. and Coughlan, T. 2020 Archaeological testing Inner Relief Road, Navan, Co. Meath. Licence: 19E0124. Final Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy Walsh, C. 2018 Archaeological test excavation of the former Barracks, Kells Road, Navan, County Meath. Licence: 18E0327. Unpublished report, Archaeological Projects

• ME025-024001 Tomb - chest tomb
  Description

  from Bradley and King (1985, 150): Effigy of a bishop. Late 14th / early 15th century. Set against the wall in the courtyard of Slane castle (see: ME019-021----). It depicts a bishop under a broken canopy. He is dressed in a chasuble over a dalmatic and alb with amice around his neck. He has a mitre on his head which rests on a double cushion. He has prominent ears, the right hand is raised in blessing and the damaged left hand would have held the vexillium draped crozier. The lower part of the slab is damaged but his feet probably rested on an animal. Hickey (1975) has pointed out that this effigy and the ‘Apostle Stone’ at St. Erc’s Hermitage (ME019-026001-) were probably from the same tomb and were moved here from St. Mary’s abbey, Navan (ME025-024----), in the late 18th century. Dimensions: H 1.97m; Wth 0.49-0.59m. (Hunt 1974, 214) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 15 July, 2014

• ME025-024002 Stone sculpture
  Description

  From Bradley and King (1985, 142-3): The ‘Apostle Stone’. Late 14th / early 15th century. A large coffin-shaped block of sandstone is a short distance west of St. Erc’s Hermitage (ME019-026----) in Slane. It is carved in relief with six apostles on each of the long sides and a Crucifixion with Mary and John on the broader end. Many of the apostles are damaged so not all can be identified. They are dressed similarly in a tunic and cloak caught over the left arm. Only SS Paul and James are clearly identifiable. Hickey (1975) has shown that this is part of a composite tomb tht includes the effigy of a bishop at Slane Castle (ME019-021----) that were removed from St. Mary’s abbey in Navan (ME025-024----), in the late 18th century. Dims L 1.75m; Wth 0.42-0.52; H 0.44m Date of upload: 15 July, 2014

• ME025-024003 Graveyard
  Description

  St Mary's abbey (ME025-024----) was located N of Navan, between the town and the NW-SE River Blackwater. At the Suppression in 1539-40 it was the parish church (White 1943, 250) and continued to act as such. However, by 1693 it was in ruins and Dopping recorded many inscriptions from it (Reynell 1888-91). Later the site was transformed into a cavalry barracks, and Cogan (1862-70, 1, 228) deplores the abuse the graveyard suffered at the hands of the military. No trace of it remains, although the location is generally known. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 19 December, 2014

• ME025-024004 Font
  Description

  The limestone font described by Dopping (1693) as being in St Mary’s abbey (Reynell 1888-91, 463) is now in St Mary’s Church of Ireland church (ME025-044009-) in Navan (Roe 1968, 89-91).

• ME025-044 Historic town
  Description

  Situated on a broad hill in the angle between a W-E section of the Cavan River Blackwater at N and a SE-NW course of the River Boyne at E. At the confluence the Boyne turns E and then NE. Hugh de Lacy had granted the barony of Navan to Jocelyn de Angelo by 1175 and the motte and bailey castle (ME025-023001-) might have been built shortly afterwards as the caput or centre of the fief, perhaps on an ancient burial mound. Such a crucial confluence of two important waterways soon became the focus of a town, and it is possible that the Augustinian abbey of St. Mary’s (ME025-024----) had been established, perhaps on an older church site, before the Anglo-Norman settlement. This was known as Nuachongbhail – New settlement - which was reputedly the site of a church founded by St. Fechin of Fore (WM04-035003-), but the occurrences of the name are later interpolations. The area was originally known as Odhbha with references from 612 (AU) when a battle was fought amongst the Aed Sláine branch of Uí Néill. The mythological Odhbha was a daughter of Milesius, leader of the last of the five mythological invasions of Ireland, and the name would have been applied to her burial mound which could be incorporated in the motte. The Dindshenchas, a ninth to twelfth century collection of lore about places, describes Odhbha as a grave on a ridge, and the name would be applied to the territory. Odhbha is easily corrupted into Novan or Nouan, applied first to the Augustinian abbey (ME025-024----) in its charters after 1170. In Gaelic Odhbha is equally corruptible into Uaimh – cave or grave – an apt description for the original mound and the name used in the few annalistic references. (Ó Murchadha 1992-3) The development of the town is not fully elucidated but its corporate status is first acknowledged in 1462 (Brooks 1933, 223). The town was plundered by O’Neill and O’Donnell in 1539, and in 1543 Parliament imposed a charge on every ploughland in Meath in order to fund the construction of walls for Navan. Although murage at Navan had been collected since the fifteenth century at least, the walling might never have been completed and in 1593 Navan was listed as a market rather than a walled town (Bradley and King 1985, 94-5, 98). The brief description of the town in the Civil Survey (1654-6) mentions Feshings Gate and Sweynes Bridge as well as houses on the north side of Canonrow St outside West Gate as well as houses outside the Dublin Gate (Simington 1940, 222-3). Two castles and four houses, by which stone houses are meant, are specified. The Down Survey (1656-8) barony map depicts the town as an enclosed rectangular area backing onto the River Boyne at NE, with the abbey outside the walls at N and a bridge crossing the Blackwater below it. There was no bridge across the Boyne until c. 1750, but the river may have had a ford as the name Athlumney - Áth Luimnigh – ford of the bare place?, or of the herds (Boylan 1988, 52), for the land on the other side indicates. The medieval town had three streets meeting at the triangular Market Square, with numerous alleys off the principal thoroughfares. From the property boundaries depicted in the 1836 edition of the OS 6-inch map the small extent of the walled town (c. 7 ha) can be outlined and a section of wall (ME025-044003-) survives behind the houses on the S side of Abbey Road while other evidence of it has been found in excavation. Excavations within the town show that there was a high knoll of gravel around the N angle of the town and this area is described as ‘Sandymount’ on the OS 25-inch map of 1908. In other parts of the walled area excavations generally record medieval deposits beneath a deep overburden of post-medieval construction and dumping. Outside the walls medieval properties are being recorded in excavation on the NE side of Canon Row St. in line with the Civil Survey evidence. See the attached image from the Down Survey barony map of Navan (N at left), courtesy of the National Library of Ireland Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 31 March 2023 AU Annals of Ulster Bradley, J. and King, H. A. 1985 Urban archaeological survey – county Meath. Unpublished report commissioned by the OPW, Dublin Brooks, E. St John 1933 A Charter of John de Courcy to the Abbey of Navan. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 63, 38-45. Ellison, Rev. C.C. 1963 Some Aspects of Navan History. Ríocht na Midhe 3, 1, 33-56. Ó Murchadha, D.n 1992-3 Odhbha and Navan. Ríocht na Mídhe vol. 8, No. 4, 112-23 Simington, R. C. 1940 The Civil Survey AD 1654-1656. vol. V, County of Meath. Dublin, Stationery Office

• ME025-044002 Cross - Market cross
  Description

  The triangular marketplace was where the three principal streets met, and the market is referred to in charters of 1605 and 1679. A fragment of a cross, dated to the late 16th century, originally perhaps from the Market Square and now in the National Museum of Ireland, is described by King (1984, 109) as: Navan 1 National Museum of Ireland No. X1639. This cross has been in the collection of the Royal Irish Academy since 1849 but its original position was probably in the Market Square in Navan. Two other fragments existed in 1862 (Cogan 1862, 1, 229-30). Material: dark grey limestone from Colp. Dims shaft: H 0.45m; 0.22m x 0.21m: tenon: H 0.12m; 0.15m x 0.14m at base; 0.13m x 0.13m at top. A shaft fragment almost square in section decorated in false relief. It has a tenon on top and a small hole in the base. An inscription in Roman lettering on three faces in relief and incision. 1st: A shield with Nangle (quarterly, first and third grandquarter counter quartered, azure three fusils conjoined in fess or) and Dowdall arms impaling Herbert (per pale azure and gules three lions rampant argent a border gobony of the last and sable and a cinquefoil in chief pierced of the second). 2nd: Inscription only; the first two letter are shaped like an hour-glass and wreath. 3rd: A female figure dressed in Elizabethan fashion. 4th: A figure in a loin cloth lying sideways holding an hour-glass, three circular objects, possibly intended as skulls, and a winged head. The inscription is as follows: NANGL / AND HAR / BART /…/PESOT / I O /SVLINVS/ DEANGVLO/ THE FIRST / BARRON OF / THE NOVAN F(…) IS / (…) GIVEN / HIM BY SIR/ HUGHE/DE LACIE/ PHIL/ I PPVS.N/AIQVANDO/BARO DE/NOVAN FO/RVM AC /NVNDINA/. The coat of arms is that of Martin Nangle who died in 1585. The occurrence of a lady in Elizabethan costume confirms a date of c. 1585. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of revision: 16 April, 2015 Amended: 29 March 2023

• ME025-044003 Town defences
  Description

  Although murage at Navan had been collected since 1470 at least (Moore 1893, 59), the walling might never have been completed. After Navan had been plundered by O’Neill and O’Donnell in 1539, the Irish Parliament imposed a charge on every ploughland in Meath in 1543 in order to fund the construction of walls for Navan. The funding drive might not have been completely successful as in 1593 Navan was listed as a market town rather than a walled town (Bradley and King 1985, 94-5, 98). The walls were completed however and were maintained into the eighteenth century. In 1746 an order was made to repair breaches in the town walls which were allowing goods into the weekly markets free of tolls, but by the end of the century widening of the streets removed the town gates at Dublin Gate in 1786, Watergate in 1788 and Trimgate in 1796 (Ellison 1963, 42-6). From the property boundaries depicted on the 1836 edition of the OS 6-inch map the line taken by the town wall can be identified. It describes a rough rectangle backing onto the River Boyne at E. From the SE corner it extended W from the river behind the houses on the N side of Church Hill, turning N to join Trimgate St. c. 50m from its junction with Railway St. From there it continued N towards Abbey Rd through the re-developed shopping area, but turned E while still S of that road, crossed the junction with Watergate St and continued down to the Boyne. A section of the town wall (L 15m; T 0.8m; H c. 5m) with a section of a semi-circular bastion at its W end survives behind the houses on the S side of Abbey Road. The upper part of the wall and tower are probably reconstructed where they are not bonded, although they are bonded at the bottom. Other fragments could survive in the curving N property boundary of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic church. Archaeological testing (E002336) by S. Halliday of a broadband trench through the streets during 2006-7 identified (excavations.ie 2008:973) two N-S walls at the base of Timmon’s Lane, which run parallel with the River Boyne. One wall (Wth 2.4m plus; H 5m plus) consisted of large limestone blocks (max. dims 0.85m x 0.6m; T 0.5m) bonded with mortar. Other evidence of the town wall was recorded (E002905) by E. Corcoran (2007) at Kennedy Road (excavations.ie 2007:1352). The top of a wide ditch (Wth 6.5-6.65m) filled with greyish brown silty clays that had stones and redeposited natural appeared in three trenches on the line of the town wall as well as pits and other features cut into the natural which was close to the surface in one trench. The ditch could either be a defensive ditch or a robber trench to retrieve stones from the wall. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 10 July 2007 Revised: 29 March 2023 Bradley, J. and King, H. A. 1985 Urban archaeological survey – county Meath. Unpublished report commissioned by the OPW, Dublin Corcoran, E. 2007 Report on an Archaeological Assessment at Kennedy Road, Navan, Co. Meath. Licence: E002905. Unpublished report, Archaeological Development Services Ellison, C. C. 1963 Some aspects of Navan history. Ríocht na Mídhe, 3, 1, 33-56. Moore, J. H. 1893-5 Notes on the Town of Navan. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. 123, 55-63; vol. 124, 47-53; vol. 125, 155-62.

• ME025-044008 Bridge
  Description

  Although Navan was at a crucial confluence of the Boyne and the Cavan Blackwater rivers, there appears to have been no bridge across the Boyne at Navan for most of the middle ages. From the thirteenth century the Boyne could be crossed by Babe’s Bridge (ME025-017----) about 3km below the town and later by Kilcarn Bridge (ME025-039----) about 3km upstream from the mid-sixteenth century. The Pollboy Bridge crossed the Blackwater at Navan, perhaps from the foundation of the town as the barony of Navan, which is most of the large territory between Kells and Trim, also extends down the NW bank of the lower Boyne as far as Dunmoe. The name is derived from Poll Buí – Yellow hole (OS Name Book), but it is described as Swyne Bridge in the Civil Survey (1654-6) (Simington 1940, 222). There are no earlier references to the bridge but it is also depicted on the barony map of the Down Survey (1656-8) where it is described as Navan Bridge. However, the present structure is a seven arch stone bridge that was constructed c. 1740. (See: buildingsofireland.ie, accessed on 27/06/2022). The bridge has a level carriageway and seven arches with cut stone voussoirs. The triangular breakwaters upstream and the squared ones downstream are carried to the parapet to provide refuges for pedestrians. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 29 March 2023 Simington, R. C. 1940 The Civil Survey AD 1654-1656. vol. V, County of Meath. Dublin, Stationery Office

• ME025-044009 Font (present location)
  Description

  The limestone font described by Dopping (1693) as being in St Mary’s abbey (ME025-024----) (Reynell 1888-91, 463) is now in St Mary’s Church of Ireland church in Navan. The font is octagonal (dims 0.6m x 0.6m; H 0.37m) with a circular basin (int. diam. 0.5m; D 0.18m) and shallow chamfered under-panels. The octagonal stem appears to be modern but the octagonal base (dims 0.6m x 0.6m; H 0.25m) is original (total H 1.13m). The font has two shields in relief, one with a cross that has the inscription IN HOC SIGNO VINCES 1716 crudely incised in a secondary fashion. The other has the Butler arms, and Roe (1968, 89-91) associates it with James, the 4th Earl of Ormonde, who joined a confraternity at St Mary’s in 1436. The cross (ME025-044010-) is in the graveyard. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 19 December, 2014

And 14 more.

Architectural heritage

No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands on this parcel.

Designated sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service. Recorded monuments: Sites and Monuments Record, National Monuments Service. Buildings: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Works at or in relation to a recorded monument need two months' written notice to the National Monuments Service (National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994, section 12).

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