2004:1833 - WEXFORD: White's Hotel, George's Street Lower, Wexford

Testing of two areas of the White’s Hotel complex undertaken by Cathy Sheehan in 2002 (Excavations 2002, No. 1930, 02E1074) and by the writer in 2003 (Excavations 2003, No. 2044) uncovered medieval deposits beneath the existing ground surface in the Abbey Street carpark area, in a laneway running from the hotel to the Cornmarket and in the centre of the hotel complex beneath a function room.

During the first four months of 2004, monitoring of the demolition of almost all of the hotel buildings was carried out. In tandem with this monitoring, testing of the areas not yet investigated was undertaken. The 2004 testing confirmed the results of the earlier phases and suggested that archaeological deposits survived to varying degrees across almost the entire site.

In December 2003 overburden removal in the Abbey Street carpark area of the hotel complex commenced in advance of open-plan excavation of the deposits identified by Cathy Sheehan. This open-plan excavation continued into the spring of 2004 and extended across the entire area of the hotel’s Abbey Street and George’s Street carparks and into the back gardens of two properties located to the east of the George’s Street carpark. No works were undertaken at the site in the summer of 2004.

In the autumn of 2004 works recommenced at the site with the excavation of specific areas of construction impact (i.e. lift shafts, crane bases and drainage).

The investigation of this site has revealed a consistent pattern of activity across the area. On the higher ground along Abbey Street and George’s Street the excavation mostly consisted of a large number of subsoil-cut medieval pits. These pits were generally interpreted as latrine or general refuse pits. Along the Abbey Street frontage of the site an area of probable 16th-century industrial activity was excavated.

Monitoring of construction-related groundworks continued on various dates throughout the winter of 2004. Along both areas of street frontage the archaeological activity was disturbed by the construction of post-medieval housing. Across these higher areas, garden soils of depths of between 0.3m and 1.5m overlay the subsoil-cut archaeology. These garden soils were generally disturbed by the later phases of development.

At the centre of the site, underlying peat deposits appear to suggest that much of the site was once a marshy, undeveloped area. The stratigraphy in the centre of the site remained relatively constant, composing, in turn, modern floor levels, post-medieval rubble deposits, deep garden soils of two distinct phases (post-medieval overlying medieval) and, where reached, particularly humic deposits containing varying levels of medieval inclusions overlying peats and waterlogged natural clays. Much of this material was preserved in situ beneath the redeveloped hotel. Towards the Main Street frontage of the site, beach gravels and peaty deposits uncovered in testing appeared to suggest that the marshy area at the centre of the site was once open to the sea.

Unusually, during the excavation of the site, although significant quantities of artefacts were recovered (including several thousand sherds of medieval pottery), very little structural activity was exposed. This appeared to suggest that this area of the medieval town, around the edges of an open marshy area, was only sparsely occupied or perhaps was mainly used for industrial activity or for disposal of household rubbish. Structural activity identified by Cathy Sheehan towards the Cornmarket entrance to the site in 2002 might suggest that this part of the site was occupied by stone-built structures in the later post-medieval period. This area was also preserved in situ. It is likely that further monitoring of construction-related groundworks will be undertaken in 2005.