County: Louth Site name: DROGHEDA
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Kieran Campbell, for Drogheda Corporation
Site type: Town defences and Building
Period/Dating: Medieval (AD 400-AD 1600)
ITM: E 709172m, N 775008m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.713320, -6.346151
Rescue excavation and recording during the construction of a dual-carriageway through James's Street uncovered further portions of the town wall and a large medieval building partially excavated in 1982-83. An almost complete ground-plan was obtained of the building which is presumed to be the Hospital of St. James and shows that it was square in plan and divided into two rooms, each with its own door facing the river. A small section of the town wall foundation was excavated. Outside the wall a rock-cut ditch at least 4m deep and measuring 22m in width was filled with waterlogged medieval deposits.
At the site of St. James's Gate, of which all trace had evidently been removed in the past, the ditch was uncut and several successive paved street surfaces were recorded in the contractor's trench.
