County: Louth Site name: DROGHEDA: 2 Bessexwell Lane
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 98E0086
Author: Rosanne Meenan
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Medieval (AD 400-AD 1600)
ITM: E 709027m, N 775317m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.716130, -6.348228
The site lies at the west end of Bessexwell Lane, on the south side. The lane runs into Shop Street, which was one of the major thoroughfares in medieval Drogheda. The lane is known to have existed at the beginning of the 14th century (Bradley 127), when it was recorded as the 'lane to the Friars minor', i.e. the Franciscan friary that is known to have been built east of Mayoralty Street. There is also a record of a property plot owned by Martin Johan in 1363 (ibid. 113) immediately to the west of the development site. One trench tested the very small site.
The remains of a stone wall ran east-west across the site. It was abutted on the south side by building rubble and on the north side by a mixed deposit of gravel, yellow clay and silt, the function of which was not clear. These three features were post-medieval in date. They all overlay the grey, mottled silt layer, which, when found in adjoining 3–4 Bessexwell Lane No. 427, Excavations 1998), was interpreted as a medieval layer.
Reference:
Bradley, J. 1978: The topography and layout of medieval Drogheda. Co. Louth Archaeological and Historical Journal 19 (2), 98–127.
Roestown, Drumree, Co. Meath
