County: Louth Site name: DUNDALK: John St.
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 95E0089
Author: Kieran Campbell
Site type: Historic town
Period/Dating: Post Medieval (AD 1600-AD 1750)
ITM: E 704628m, N 807910m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.009803, -6.403734
Test-trenches were excavated on a site for five 'town houses' and a residential unit on the south side of John St., a narrow curving lane which led to Castletown Gate in the west wall of the medieval town.
The investigation revealed bedrock in places within 0.1m of present-day ground surface, which explained why this location, at 32–34 feet above sea-level, is one of the highest points in this otherwise low-lying town. Bedrock shelved away towards the south-west side of the site, where deposits extended to a depth of 4.5m. These deep deposits appeared to be post-medieval in date although finds were remarkably few, considering the amount of material examined, and consisted of occasional animal bone, shell and two sherds of pottery, one medieval and one post-medieval. Owing to the ground conditions, the terrace of five houses was built on pile foundations.
Bedrock and till were exposed close to the surface on the site of the residential unit at the street front. Two metres beyond the limit of the building there was a sharp drop in bedrock to a depth of 1.75m. Overlying the bedrock and reaching to within 0.1m of the present ground surface was a compact organic deposit containing cess material, twigs, animal bone and shell. The surface of the organic layer was exposed for a distance of 10m and a small area was excavated by hand to retrieve evidence of date. One small sherd of brown-glazed pottery, probably Cistercian-type, was recovered. Four sherds found in the machine spoil included two of Beauvais earthenware and a rimsherd from a late Valencia lustreware dish, of late 15th/early 16th-century date, with decoration of abstract foliage in reverse lustre. The complete skulls of a horse, a goat, two dogs and a cat were excavated from the surface of bedrock at the base of the peat. No further investigation took place as the area was to become a paved forecourt for the town houses.
No structures were uncovered, apart from some cobbling. It was concluded that the deposits resulted from the backfilling of a quarry or the dumping of fill on a natural slope. The extensive organic deposit contained very few finds, other than bones and shells, and may represent a communal dump of nightsoil. The bulk of the material on the site is likely to be of 16th-century date.
6 St Ultans, Laytown, Drogheda, Co. Louth
