1997:388 - DUNDALK: 78 Bridge Street, Louth

An excavation took place from 24 to 26 September 1997 to record the remains of a medieval pottery kiln discovered on a site where development had proceeded in advance of an archaeological assessment. The site is located on the west side of Bridge Street towards the north end of the medieval walled town. It comprises a narrow strip of ground aligned east–west and measures 57m in length and 9.2m in width at the street front, narrowing to 7.7m wide at the rear of the site. The line of town wall ran 50m further to the west of the site. The development consisted of alterations to an existing building at the street front and the construction of a single-storey extension over most of the long back garden.

Site clearance for the extension had resulted in the removal of material to a maximum depth of 0.55m. Section faces at the edges of the site indicated that the material removed was post-medieval garden soil. The surface of the cleared ground appeared generally to consist of post-medieval soil containing brick fragments and pottery of 18th/19th-century date. Two foundation trenches, 35m long, 1m wide and up to 0.7m deep, had been excavated below the reduced level of the garden for the north and south walls of the proposed extension. In places all the deposits from the original ground level to the surface of natural subsoil were of modern date. Medieval deposits were recorded at the base of the southern foundation trench for a 7m length at the west end.

At the east end of the foundation trench along the north side of the site, 20m from the street front, a deposit of oxidised soil was observed in the section face. This contained waste from a kiln, including pottery sherds and other kiln debris. An excavation uncovered the remains of a pottery kiln, much of which had been destroyed by previous activity on the site, both in the medieval period and during the recent site works. Part of the firing chamber with a flue/stoke-hole on the west side was recorded. There was evidence for a second flue on the east side.

The firing chamber survived as the south-west side of a pit excavated to a depth of 0.3m into a pre-existing deposit of silty clay overlying natural subsoil. The floor was formed by subsoil, a sandy clay over bedrock. The side of the chamber was lined with clay, 25–30mm thick. The chamber had been destroyed to the east by disturbance, possibly during the medieval period. No evidence survived at the junction of chamber and flue to indicate how the opening may have been roofed. The chamber was backfilled with oxidised clay and kiln waste, including irregular pieces of fired clay up to 60mm in size, which probably represent fragments of the collapsed superstructure.

The flue or rake-out area was defined by a spread of charcoal, 20mm thick and extending for a distance of 1.7m from the firing chamber. A deposit of kiln waste rested on the charcoal at the end of the flue. Both the firing chamber and flue had been truncated on the north by the foundation trench so that their original dimensions are not known. To the east of the cut which destroyed the firing chamber a band of charcoal represented the outer edge of a second flue.

The surviving evidence suggests that the kiln was of Type 2, i.e. an oven with two opposing flues. The overall length of the kiln between the outer ends of the flues was 5.7m. The chamber may have measured 2.3m east–west if it is assumed that the eastern flue was the same size as the surviving western flue. This size is comparable to the chambers of the kilns excavated at Downpatrick and Carrickfergus.

A total of 386 sherds were recovered, of which 172 came from the backfill of the firing chamber and the floor of the flue. The ware is wheel-thrown and sherds of glazed jugs predominate. Some sherds are decorated with applied raspberry ‘prunts’ and applied strips. There are sherds from one highly decorated jug with applied floral motifs, one shallow dish and the handle of a pipkin.

There are 180 pieces of kiln furniture and fragments of the superstructure. Included in this total are nine brick-shaped fragments which had been subject to great heat and probably functioned as fire bars. There are several fragments from crude (?)cone-shaped props.

On the basis of the fabric and decoration of the ware it is suggested that the kiln was in operation at some time during the period 1250–1350.

6 St Ultan’s, Laytown, Drogheda, Co. Louth