1998:218 - SWORDS: Church Lane, Dublin

This site lies within the town of Swords and is bordered on the south-east by the Ward River, on the north-east by the Old Vicarage and on the north-west and west by Church Lane, on the other side of which is the medieval church and round tower. During the renovation of the Old Vicarage building human skeletal remains were uncovered after the removal of floorboards. The remains consisted of one partly articulated skeleton and scattered bone fragments over a previously disturbed ground level. Before further work the remains of an estimated further six skeletons were removed. Subsequent archaeological work (by Geraldine Dunne, Excavations 1997, 61) revealed five more partly articulated skeletons, the line and orientation of which indicate that they were Christian burials pre-dating the vicarage, at least part of which was built in the 17th century, and were disturbed by its foundations.

The original line of the monastic enclosure is unclear, although it is possible that the stream formed one of its boundaries. The present ground levels are not a reflection of their previous height, as the garden of the Old Vicarage is up to 5.5m higher than the level of the site under investigation, with a stone wall set on exposed bedrock separating them. At the north end of the site Church Lane is c. 6.25m higher than the area bordering the stream. The ground level at the stream seems to have been built up, as the stream banks are quite steep at this point. Local history refers to the site as having been used as a quarry, and this is borne out both by an engineer's report and by the depth of disturbance found in the northern part of the site. Bedrock is also exposed beneath the stone wall that borders Church Lane.

Work was carried out over two days of very overcast and wet weather.

Test-trench 1 was set on average 2m from the boundary wall with the Old Vicarage and ran parallel to it, north-west/south-east. It was 21.7m long and was disturbed along the greater part of its length up to a point 8m from its south-eastern end. Over the first 14m of the trench the general profile was humus (100) averaging 0.2m deep, followed by a dark, stony soil, a balanced clay/sand (101a), averaging 0.15m deep. At the junction between Trenches 1 and 2, 3m from the west end of Trench 1, was an area of dumped material containing mortar, brick, modern china and glass, and also the remains of a modern drain or wall footing. There were also some fragments of human bone in the layer (103) that contained the mortar. This layer overlay 102, a light-coloured clay that appeared to be redeposited at this point. Layer 103 occurred at two other points along this trench and may coincide with foundations of one of the glasshouses that had stood on this part of the site; the wall footing was most likely part of such a structure as well. Layer 101a 8m from the west end became much less stony and had the appearance of a rich, modern garden soil, termed 101b.

About 7.5m from the east end of the trench bedrock and undisturbed boulder clay (104) began to appear on the north side. Over the last 7m of the trench at a depth of 0.6m below the surface was a layer (105) of mid- to dark brown, friable, silty loam with a large quantity of shell inclusions. These consisted of mostly intact mussel, limpet and oyster shells. This layer deepened at the east end and was at least 0.5m thick. It lay below a thicker (0.25m) spread of the dark, stony soil (102). Further west, at 6.5m from the east end, was a cut (F101) in the boulder clay that ran into the face of the bedrock. It was almost vertical, running diagonally across the trench from bedrock southwards, and cut from the north-west side, but no opposite side occurred. The fill was the shell-filled layer 105, and no finds occurred. It was known that peach trees had been planted at this point, and the cut may relate to modern gardening activity or to quarrying.

Finds from Test-trench 1 included the head and part of the neck of two possibly human femurs, flower pot fragments, modern and bottle glass and two sherds of medieval pottery, both local ware.

This mortar-bearing layer (103) occurred at different points over the site and usually contained post-medieval and modern material; only in Trench 1 did human bone occur.

Test-trench 2, 44.65m long, was aligned north-east/south-west roughly along the centre of the proposed building. As in Trench 1, no attempt was made to find natural in the areas that clearly had been quarried (i.e., the first 15m from the junction with Trench 1). The material uncovered was broadly similar, with significant stretches of 103 at an average depth of 0.8m below the surface. At a distance of 10.2m from the junction of Trenches 1 and 2 the remains of a wall or foundation projected into the cutting from the east side. This was 0.6m below the surface, and a spread of 103 occurred to either side. Within this to the south of the foundation walling were pieces of slag (iron) and fragments of pantile. A pale, mottled clay (102/4) was revealed beneath 103, but it was not obvious whether it was redeposited. To the south of the remains of the foundation the clay had a less disturbed appearance. From a point c. 20m from the north end of the trench layer 103 overlay a layer (106) that was initially similar to 101b but contained some charcoal, abundant small stones and shell flecks and had more of a clay content. This was less than 0.1m thick, and then 104 resumed. This layer 106 was noted for the remainder of the trench.

Finds from Test-trench 2 included pantile fragments, iron slag, modern china and a sherd of post-medieval slip ware.

Test-trench 3 projected for 4m west of Trench 2 and continued for 10m to the east. For the first 6m from west to east the stratigraphy was as for the southern end of Trench 2. This changed 6m from the west end of the cutting, and the remaining 8m contained in situ medieval deposits with a rather enigmatic stone feature. The layers 100, 101b and 106 were present; 103 did not occur.

Below 106, now 0.3m deep, and at a distance of 9.6m from the west end of the cutting, a dark brown soil with abundant small stones and occasional shell, bone and charcoal was uncovered (107). This also produced four sherds of medieval pottery (13th/14th century). This layer, 0.15m thick, overlay a layer of yellow marl (108), which projected into it from the east side. This partly overlay and partly abutted a layer (109) of broken stones, some of which had a burnt appearance, all angular and c. 60-80mm long. Beneath this were large, irregular, flat stones that formed a rough paving (F102), gently sloping from the west to the east. The stones were between 0.2m and 0.4m long. Only a part of the paving was exposed, for a distance of 1.5m, but it continued further east than this point. Layer 107 continued part way over this sequence of 108 and 109 and rose slightly towards the east. It abutted a layer of similar texture but lighter colour, which contained a very large quantity of shells. It was the same material as found in Trench 1, layer 105. This layer was c. 0.3m thick and directly overlay 109. At a distance of 2.3m from the beginning of the paving two rough courses of large stones occurred, running north-south and set into 105. This possible wall was, like the paving, unmortared, and was contained within 105. It is not certain that it is an actual feature as opposed to a dump of stones.

Test-trench 4 (7.1m long) was set 4.8m to the north of Test-trench 3 and ran parallel to it. Its stratigraphy was as follows: 100, 101b humus and topsoil, 0.4m deep. Brown, silty clay, high mortar content, 103, depth 0.25m. Grey-brown clay silt with charcoal and organic inclusions, 106, 0.1m thick. Dark brown soil, friable, silty clay with bone, charcoal and medieval pottery, 107, 0.3m thick, followed by the shell-rich layer 105, which was 0.4m thick. Below this was a similar layer with fewer shells, 105a, and this extended for another 0.4m. There was a pale clay on the bottom, but directly overlying it in 105a were many pieces of charcoal up to 15mm long. The trench was excavated to this depth, 1.85m, at one point only. There were two finds from this cutting, both from 107: a possible line- impressed tile, very abraded and possibly cut, and a body sherd of probable local ware.

Test-trench 5 was 3m long, and, as the upper layers contained a lot of later rubble, it was decided to attempt to find natural. A grey/green clay, very compact, became greyer and wetter and was seemingly devoid of finds. It was attempted to find the depth of bedrock at this point, and a stony, gravelly layer was reached at 3m. The material above this was the grey clay, but at this depth a large portion of a Victorian creamware plate was found. As this cutting did not coincide with the engineer's test-trenches as recorded, it is possible that this is the result of backfill into a quarried area.

The site has been altered from its original topography by quarrying, possibly in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Its subsequent use as a garden has further modified it. It is possible also that the riverbank was raised. It is clear that the site was a quarry and that this affected the northern sector. This activity would have removed archaeology in this area. As the bedrock rises towards both Church Lane and the Old Vicarage the depth of the overburden correspondingly decreases.

The presence of human bone at the junction of Trenches 1 and 2 within a layer containing significant amounts of mortar and rubble is probably best seen in the context of modifications carried out to both the Old Vicarage and its gardens, which were terraced, at various stages in the past. The shell layer (105) uncovered at the east end of Trench 1 would by analogy with that in Trenches 3 and 4 pre-date the layers that produced the medieval pottery. Given that the pottery is in an abraded condition, with two possibly late medieval sherds and an abraded/ reworked tile, and that this shell layer appears to contain the paved area and adjacent possible wall, it is most likely also medieval in date. The paved area in Trench 3 may relate to some semi-industrial rather than domestic activity, although what type is not clear. There are some 0.5m of deposits containing medieval/late medieval material above it.

Greenanstown, Stamullin, Co. Meath