1999:600 - DUNDALK: Demense/Townparks, Louth

Between 19 and 29 July 1999 and September and October 1999 a total of 21 test-trenches were excavated along pipeline routes 3, 4, 5, and 8 of the proposed Dundalk Sewerage Scheme, Contract No. 3. These trenches formed part of an archaeological assessment that incorporated both desk-based research and an extensive programme of test-trenching to identify the archaeological constraints of the pipeline routes. The assessment was undertaken on behalf of Dundalk Urban District Council

A desk-based assessment of the scheme by Valerie J. Keely & Co. Ltd had identified a number of pipeline routes running through several archaeologically sensitive areas. Lines 3 and 5 cross the projected line of the town defences, and Line 4 runs outside but parallel to the town wall. The northern end of Line 8 runs through an area known to contain Bronze Age flint scatters.

The test-trenching revealed no significant archaeological features or deposits. There was no evidence of the town defences in the areas tested along Lines 3 and 5. The only archaeological material of note discovered were the remains of one or more 18th–19th-century metalworking areas along Patrick Street.

Line 3 runs north-south along St Nicholas Avenue and crosses the projected line of the medieval town defences. Six trenches were excavated. Nothing of archaeological significance was discovered. To the south the stratigraphy consisted of c. 0.4m of 19th-century clays deposited over natural geology. To the north of the street, which is adjacent to the Castletown River, up to 2m of dumped 19th-century clays was recorded. These had been deposited during land reclamation.

Line 4 runs north-south along Philip Street. It runs outside but parallel to the medieval town defences and through the former Lord Rodin's demesne. Five trenches were excavated. Nothing of archaeological significance was discovered.

Line 5 runs east-west along Patrick Street. It crosses the projected line of the medieval town defences at the junction of Patrick Street and Laurels Road and proceeds into the medieval town along the eastern half of Patrick Street. Five trenches were excavated in this area.

The current line of Patrick Street also has its origins in the 20th century; constructed as part of the Dundalk Housing Scheme during the 1920s, it is first seen in the 1940 edition of the OS map of Dundalk. It was preceded by Shiel's Court, a small cul-de-sac of structures orientated east-west and between the rear of the buildings fronting onto Bridge Street to the east and Lord Rodin's estate to the west. Shiel's Court had its origins in the 18th century and is visible on Taylor and Skinner's 1777 map of Dundalk. The southern side of Shiel's Court continued to develop in a linear fashion through the 19th century until it met the boundary wall of Rodin's estate. Shiel's Court was preceded by burgage plots associated with the buildings fronting onto Church Street, which are visible on 16th- and 17th-century maps of Dundalk. It is likely that these burgage plots respected earlier property boundaries dating to the medieval period.

Two distinct phases of activity were identified within the test-trenches excavated on Patrick Street.

Phase 1 was present in Trenches 9 and 20. It consisted of the accumulation of 0.6–1.3m of 17th–18th-century garden soils associated with the burgage plots mentioned above.

Phase 2 was recorded in Trenches 8, 9, and 20. It represented the 18th- and 19th-century development of what was then known as Shiel's Court. Trench 8 measured 2.6m (north-south) x 1.2m and contained evidence of the remains of an 19th-century metalworking area, in the form of limestone-built walls, a flagged floor and a deep deposit of cinders and corroded metal. Trench 9 measured 5m (east-west) x 1.2m and contained an east-west-orientated limestone wall in its north-facing section. This wall was constructed over the 17th-century garden soils and was probably the remains of an 18th–19th-century structure that fronted onto Shiel's Court. Trench 20 measured 5m (east-west) x 1.2m and contained evidence of two phases of 19th-century industrial activity in the form of cobbled floors, internal red brick walls and several deep deposits of cinders and ash. Both these phases were constructed over 17th-century garden soils.

Line 8 was orientated north-south and ran along a footpath on the south side of Long Avenue, parallel to a culvert containing the Ramparts River. A number of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age flints have been recovered from this area in the past. Four trenches were excavated, and nothing of archaeological significance was discovered. In general, stratigraphy consisted of modern dumped clays overlying several deposits of alluvial clay.

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