Prof. Brian Williams has been leading an archaeological excavation of an abandoned settlement at Creevyloughgare to the SW of Saintfield. The settlement was on very poor land but had to support 50 families. The landowner has restored a couple of the buildings, but most can only be imagined from what little of the walls still remain visible. Digging inside one of the houses has unearthed a bag of copper sulphate which was introduced about 1800 to spray potato plants to protect them from blight. The remains of a horse mill have been found beside one building which would have housed the grinding stones.
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