County: Waterford Site name: WATERFORD: Waterside Motors Ltd, Waterside
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 98U2
Author: Andrew Gittins
Site type: Town defences
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 660826m, N 612091m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.257171, -7.109046
Monitoring of the mechanical excavation of the foundation trenches of the three walls of the northward extension to the existing workshop took place on 2 and 3 November 1998. The trenches were dug to a maximum depth of c. 0.8m below existing ground level. The stratigraphy consisted of a series of loosely compacted deposits, predominantly of ashy or sandy material, with inclusions of red brick and crushed mortar laid down as recently as 1984. Beneath these deposits was, on the evidence of its appearance in all three trenches, an extensive cobbled pavement that is provisionally dated to the 19th/early 20th century. This feature, found at a depth of c. 0.75m below modern ground level, may be of interest to archaeologists in the future, so the few exposed areas of cobbles were sealed with polythene sheeting before the pouring of concrete.
The city wall along the western boundary of the premises was photographed in a series of overlapping shots taken at a constant distance of 12.5m from the base of the wall. The photographs were marked to indicate which parts of the fabric are original and which are of later addition. From these photographs and the plan an elevation drawing accurate to a given scale can be prepared with the use of computer rectification technology available to Dúchas.
The wall forms the western boundary along the entire length of the premises; it is well preserved, and the original stonework survives to a height of 3m above present ground level. The outer opes of two archery loops are visible in the stretch of the wall that was surveyed at the rear of the premises. The sill of the northern loop lies barely above modern ground level, while that of the southern one is buried. These facts suggest that the ground level here has been elevated significantly since the medieval wall was built and that at the time that the wall was constructed the ground level declined from north to south, towards John's River. A further loop was noted at the front of the premises (not surveyed), and there may be others in areas currently obscured from view.
22 Lower Grange, Waterford
