1977-79:087 - COLERAINE, Derry

(a) Rear of 21 and 17, Cross Lane
Excavations revealed the presence of a large ditch, 15m deep and probably of 6-7m wide, though it was nowhere fully excavated. The ditch produced a very well stratified sequence of late medieval coarse pottery, everted-rim cooking pottery, accompanied at an early date by a sherd of Limburg or Langerwehe pottery, possibly of 14th/15th-century date. The upper levels of the ditch produced 17th-century pottery. It thus appears likely that the ditch was dug in the 14th or 15th centuries, possibly protecting a fortification to the south of Cross Lane. No records exist in the histories of Coleraine to identify this site firmly.
Trenches were excavated here to recover information about the post-medieval street frontages, but were, in that aim, unsuccessful. Two structures of stone were recovered, both provisionally dated to the 17th century. One was an enigmatic 4m square cobble zone, bounded on two sides by low walling. The other was a stone-and-mortar-built cellar, 2 m.sq, surviving to a depth of just under 2m. The upper courses had been destroyed by later structures. The cellar was filled with layers of organic refuse. Large quantities of worked and unworked wood, worked leather, and hone were recovered, and a fine 17th-century slipware jug. There was also residual medieval pottery. A corner of the cellar had been destroyed by the insertion of a wooden waterpipe. This was well-preserved, of box-section with mitred joints.
The bulk of the excavated site produced the usual urban deposits of occupation surfaces, rubbish pits and layers. Most of these seem to have been of post-medieval date but there were also quantities of medieval pottery and some Early Christian souterrain ware. No medieval or earlier structures were recovered.

(b) Rear of 15, Abbey Street and (f) Rear of 13, Ferryquay Street
Areas (b) and (f) were unusual in that both revealed unexpectedly deep deposits. To the rear of Ferryquay Street stands a 2.5m high terrace which was thought before excavation to be a geomorphological feature. It proved to be entirely artificial, comprising deposits accumulated since the late medieval period. A similar stratigraphy was noted at Area (a). In both cases the deposits were of extensive horizontal layers, not feature fill. 30-50cm thick destruction layers of mortar and stone occupied lower levels, and are thought to relate to the quarrying of friary-associated structures in the early post-medieval period.

(c) Rear of 17, Abbey Street
Area (c) was excavated as being the closest available area to the presumed location of the 1244 Dominican friary. The deposit consisted only of 1.5m of garden soil over subsoil (the rear gardens of Waterford Place, mid 19th-century Linen Hall), with no trace of occupation.

(d) Rear of 26, Abbey Street
Area (d). The trench was cut in an attempt to relate the Cross Lane ditch to its surroundings. Part of an enormous pit was revealed, estimated to be 5-6m in diameter and 15m in depth, cut into the subsoil. This was of late 17th-century date and cannot be related to the ditch.

(e) Rear of 9, Cross Lane
Area (e). A trench was excavated to locate the late medieval ditch found in Cross Lane in 1978. The ditch was found and must be assumed to turn to N or S before reaching Stone Row. Some Irish coarse pottery was recovered but the ditch was not fully excavated.
Trenches a, b and e were within the historically defined precinct of the 13th-century friary. Save for one wall of probably late medieval date found in Ferryquay Street, no remains of this early period were firmly identified. Since the friary survived both as a building and as a precinct well into the Plantation period, it would appear that, in urban terms, the friary precinct was undeveloped in the medieval period, occupation being heavy only after about AD 1600.