County: Waterford Site name: WATERFORD: Peter Street 3, Custom House B Ward
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Martin Reid, Waterford Archaeological Excavations, City Centre Development, High Street, Waterford.
Site type: Historic town
Period/Dating: Post Medieval (AD 1600-AD 1750)
ITM: E 660826m, N 612418m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.260102, -7.108989
In December 1989, following the demolition of modern buildings, a four-week excavation of medieval urban stratigraphy commenced.
The excavation was financed by Sisk Properties Ltd. As with Peter Street/Bakehouse Lane (No. 91, Excavations 1989), there was an urgent need to commence development, and consequently excavation time was strictly limited.
On excavation, Peter Street 3 naturally divided into three distinct areas.
Firstly the Peter Street frontage was wholly occupied by two Victorian cellars dug into the natural gravel. No other layers survived in this northernmost part of the site.
Further south, a large undercroft, with massive stone walls, covered the breadth of the trench. Roughly in the centre of this structure, a massive stone pillar-base was found. This pillar would have served to carry the roof. In the south-western corner, a chute was built into the wall leading down to a stone-capped sump. Lastly, the base of either a window or a door could be seen in the build of the south wall Finds date from the 17th century.
South of the undercroft were a series of walls and also the remains of a stairway. These can most likely be identified as structurally related to the undercroft.
Medieval stratigraphy was less disturbed further south. Beneath a well-preserved Victorian cobbled floor lay a series of hearth layers. Pottery recovered from these and earlier pits was quite plentiful, and included substantial amounts of Saintonge polychrome and later wares.
