2000:0292 - DUBLIN: 14–15 Werburgh Street, Dublin

The site is positioned across the line of the southern city wall of the Viking and Anglo-Norman town. A previous assessment had established that the existing boundary wall incorporated the lower foundations of the city wall (Excavations 1999, 77, 99E0651). This city wall was cut into the remains of a clay deposit on the northern side of the wall, which was identified as possibly one of the clay banks encircling the Viking settlement in the 10th and 11th centuries. The assessment also established the presence of a pre-Georgian house, which was attached to the city wall, on the northern side.

The subsequent excavation was carried out in January 2000, on behalf of Dublin Corporation, and sought to establish the extent of surviving features to facilitate the building design. As a result, no medieval archaeological deposits were removed. The assessment did establish that the stretch of wall identified (5m long) within the boundary wall was the Anglo-Norman wall, which was 1.6m wide by 2.4m high. It was composed of large, distinctive, limestone blocks, measuring on average 0.35m by 0.4m and mortared with a dark orange, gritty mortar. The northern facing had been robbed out when the wall was reused in the 18th century, but the southern face survived intact; a slight batter was evident at the base of the wall.

The wall was cut into clay deposits, which were at least 0.6m in depth and probably represent the remnants of the defensive clay bank, dated to the Viking period. A section of this bank was exposed by Alan Hayden in the adjoining site, where it was dated to the 10th century (Excavations 1994, 31, 94E0025). In addition to the bank, a spread of mortared stone, 0.6m to the north of the Anglo-Norman wall, may represent the remains of a Viking wall, also cut into the bank deposits.

The fill of the city ditch was also located on the south side of the city wall, lying approximately 1m below the present ground level. The 18th-century brick culvert of the Poddle extends through this area, cut into the upper fill of the ditch. The excavation also located the remains, at foundation level, of a small, brick domestic house, probably dated to the early 18th century, which was tacked onto the city wall. This building, which was originally c. 10m long x c. 6m wide, was oriented east–west, fronting onto the street, but only the western end survived. The main western room had the remains of a triangular fireplace in the south-east corner, which was originally a shared stack. The remains of a clay floor and a small return at the rear were also exposed. A second 18th-century building was tacked onto the western end, but only a small section lay within the excavation cutting.