County: Meath Site name: TRIM: High Street, Townpark
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Claire Walsh
Site type: Historic town
Period/Dating: Medieval (AD 400-AD 1600)
ITM: E 680933m, N 757521m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.561354, -6.778357
This rescue excavation, which resulted from the discovery of medieval remains during the construction of a library at High St., lasted 11 days.
An excavation trench measuring 7m by 14m was opened by mechanical excavator and stratified material covering an area c. 5m by 6m was hand-excavated to a depth of 0.5m. This consisted of a series of yard surfaces dating to the 13th century, with associated pits and structural features. Finds included a small assemblage of medieval pottery which consisted mainly of Bristol wares and other English pottery, a small bone comb, a bone pin, and a fragment of a shale bracelet.
No medieval features survived along the street frontage.
At approximately 7m to the north of the excavated area, in a trench dug by the builders, a substantial ditch, sealed by c. 2m of rubble, was recorded. It measured over 3m in width and was c. 2.5m deep, with steeply sloping sides and a flat base. The fill was a dense waterlogged peat which contained quantities of animal bone and plant and microfaunal material. No pottery was recovered from the ditch. The line of the ditch is roughly parallel to the High St.
Small pockets of stratified material dating to the 13th century occurred at the northern end of the site. It was not possible to establish the relationship between the ditch and the layers containing the 13th-century pottery. It seems likely, however, that the ditch pre-dates the 13th century.
Funding for the excavation was provided by Meath Co. Council, and the excavation report will be published in Ríocht na Mídhe.
33 Glenabbey Rd, Mt Merrion, Co. Dublin
