1999:702 - MOATHILL, Navan, Meath

The proposed development site is on the western edge of Navan town, immediately east of an Anglo-Norman motte and bailey in Moathill townland. The site is along the Athboy Road, close to a sharp, north-turning bend, with the motte and bailey dominating the site to the west and the playing fields of a local school to the north. On the south side of the road, directly across from the site, lies an open area of reduced ground level, the result of quarrying and dumping, while the precinct of a hospital lies immediately east of this. Two detached cottages with gardens front the site, and there are two large farm outbuildings and remains of several smaller sheds in the north-west area of the site, close to the base of the motte. All existing buildings on the site are derelict, and the west-lying cottage has been burnt out. The garden in front of the western cottage lies at least 1.3m above the road level, although there is a gradual fall-off to 0.5m in height of the garden area to the east, adjacent to the present access into the site.

On 25 November 1999 four trenches were excavated in the area of the proposed houses. Trench 1 was in the south-west corner of the site, in a garden area west of an existing dwelling. It was excavated in a north-south direction along the line of a series of proposed dwellings c. 20m east of the western perimeter of the site. The trench, 24m by 1m, was excavated to a maximum depth of 1.3m. Removal of sod (0.2m deep) revealed a homogeneous deposit of grey/brown, sandy clay up to 1.1m deep. Below this the clay deposit contained much natural limestone.

Trench 2 (22.5m by 1m) was in a former garden area immediately west of the access laneway and was excavated in a north-south direction along the line of a series of proposed dwellings. The trench was excavated to a maximum depth of 1.1m, revealing a homogeneous deposit of garden soil 0.4m deep over yellow/brown, sandy clay with occasional rounded stones up to 0.7m deep, lying over a natural deposit of compacted stone.

Trench 3 (24m by 1m) was in an area of very overgrown ground north-east of the existing sheds. The trench was excavated in an north-north-east/south-south-west direction from the north-east perimeter of the site, along the line of a series of proposed dwellings, to a maximum depth of 1.65m. Removal of brown topsoil (0.3m deep) containing occasional fragments of concrete and brick and stone rubble revealed two extensive dump deposits of black soil containing many early modern finds (bottles, drainage pipe, patterned ceramics, metal hooks, handles etc.). The two dump deposits, upper 0.2m deep and lower 0.9m deep, were interrupted by a layer of redeposited, coarse, grey, sandy gravel 0.2m deep, containing numerous fist-sized and smaller stones. The lower dump deposit overlay the natural, coarse, grey, gravelly clay at a depth of 1.4–1.65m.

Trench 4 (34m by 1m) was in very overgrown ground 15m from the north-east corner of the site and was excavated in an north-north-east/south-south-west direction from the north perimeter of the site along the line of a series of proposed dwellings to a depth of 1.9m. Removal of brown topsoil (0.5m deep) containing fragments of concrete, brick rubble and modern rubbish revealed a dump deposit of grey/brown loam including bottles and modern cans 0.14m deep over a tarmac surface 0.06m thick that extended for a distance of 3.2m from the northern end of the trench. Below the redeposited grey/brown loam and tarmac lay a fairly homogeneous deposit of grey/brown, sandy clay 0.7m deep over natural, grey gravel. An extensive dump deposit of early modern rubbish was found cut into the grey/brown, sandy clay 17m from the northern end of the trench and extending as far as the laneway to the south. This dump deposit, the same as that encountered in Trench 3, was at most 1m deep, capped by a layer of yellow/brown clay 0.35m thick extending east and west beyond the trench. The dump deposit contained numerous glass, ceramic, metal and plastic items.

No archaeological stratigraphy was encountered in any of the test-trenches. The presence of extensive early modern dump deposits over most of the north-eastern portion of the site points to ground reduction within this area. From the late 19th century extensive gravel quarrying has been undertaken in the immediate environs of this site, and even the motte itself has been quarried during the recent past.

15 Trinity Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth