1999:875 - FERNS SEWERAGE SCHEME, Wexford

Monitoring of the pipe-trench revealed three ditches, one pit, a shallow trench associated with a medieval layer of occupation, and a culvert. A small Iron Age ring-ditch (see No. 877, Excavations 1999) and an adjacent pit were also uncovered and were fully excavated.

Phase 1 of the Sewerage Scheme was carried out in three stages, comprising topsoil removal, pipe-laying and reed bed preparation. Monitoring of topsoil removal recorded no finds.

Monitoring of pipe-laying revealed three areas of interest.

Between OF6 and OF8, two ditches that were 45m apart may belong to the same field monument.

A ditch and ditch terminal (or a pit that was truncated by the pipe-trench) were found between the F24 and F23 manholes within 10m of each other. Eighty metres further west, between F22 and F21, a shallow medieval layer of occupation contained a narrow trench at its east end.

A culvert made of limestone was found at the F25 manhole.

Archaeological work relating to these finds was confined to identifying the characteristics of the features (size, depth below surface, soil layers, location).

Monitoring of the reed bed area exposed two features-a pit c. 3m in diameter and 1m deep and a ring-ditch of Iron Age date c. 5m in diameter. These lay in the north corner of the field within 20m of each other. The pit was fully excavated and forms the last section of this report.

The ring-ditch was excavated under licence no. 99E0450 and so is discussed in a separate report (No. 877, Excavations 1999).

Location of features within pipe-laying trenches F28–F21
A stone culvert with a slate base and flat limestone slab capstones was cut diagonally by the pipe-trench south and west of manhole F25. The profile consists of 0.15m of tar at road-surface level overlying 0.2–0.25m of hardcore fill above a 0.8m-deep layer of subsoil and 0.2–0.25m of soft rock.

At F24, to a depth of 2.2m, the profile is unchanged.

At 25m west of F24 a V-shaped ditch was intersected diagonally by the pipe-trench. It was 3m wide at road level. The ditch was 1.7m deep below the road hardcore and contained an upper layer of charcoal-rich, crumby, brown soil with small stones above a horizontal band of charcoal-rich, brown soil. Another charcoal-rich layer contained slag and a furnace bottom. A sample of this charcoal layer was taken for dating purposes.

At 30m west of F24 a pit or ditch terminal was truncated by the pipe-trench, the full profile of which was visible only on the south side of the trench, as it terminated in a semicircle within the trench fill before reaching the north side of the trench. It was 1.4m wide and 1.6m deep with a fairly flat base and almost vertical sides. The fill was not horizontally laid down but contained a brown, sticky, soft layer of soil at the base, some evidence of burnt clay and a core of light brown, silty, sticky soil containing shell remains. The bottom 0.4m was excavated by hand. The manner in which the deposits were exposed would indicate that the feature was probably a pit rather than a truncated trench terminal.

At F22–F21 a shallow spread of medieval occupation comprising 0.15m depth of mid-brown, crumby soil containing a shallow trench-like feature at its south end, 0.35m deep x 0.9m wide, was cut diagonally by the pipe-trench. The fill of this feature contained fragmentary remains of glazed medieval ware and an iron nail fragment. The trench-like feature formed the eastern boundary to the medieval layer, which extended for 4.2m.

Pipe-laying trenches from OF1 to OF8
Six metres north-west of OF7 a 0.6–0.75m-deep upper layer of redeposited gravel with a silty soil mix overlay a charcoal-rich lens of silty soil for a distance of 6m as far as OF7. The north face of the pipe-trench showed a ditch-like feature that was not in evidence on the south face of the pipe-trench. The profile of the feature consisted of sloping sides and a curved base. It was 0.8m deep and 1.7m wide at the top. The 'ditch' fill contained a homogeneous layer of silty, brown, crumby soil with some gravel and stones.

The appropriate south face contained a concentration of charcoal-rich soil in a horizontal band at a depth of 0.6m below the topsoil level. A sample of charcoal was extracted for dating purposes. This lens could be traced as far as OF7.

A second ditch feature was clearly defined on the north face of the pipe-trench, 6m north-west of OF8. It was 5m wide at the top with sloping sides and was 1.8m deep. The base was curved. The feature contained three layers of fill. The upper layer was of light brown, silty soil (containing some roots) to a depth of 1.1m. It contained a charcoal-rich lens that extended 2m south-east of the ditch on the surface below the topsoil. A layer of gravel up to 0.5m thick formed the middle fill of the ditch, with a layer of light brown, silty soil at the base.

These two ditch features are c. 45m apart and may form the outer limit of the ringfort, SMR 15:4.

The ground level falls away to the south-east, where gravelly, sandy subsoil gives way to marl 3m south-east of OF8. The ground remains marly between OF8 and the river for a distance of 60m.

Monitoring of reed beds
A 200m-by-120m area was scarped by a bulldozer to make it flat in order to facilitate the growth of reeds for the purification of outflow water for the sewerage septic tanks.

Two adjacent features in the north corner of the reed bed area were found.

The ring-ditch was immediately visible by its circle of charcoal-rich soil, 5m in diameter, which contained evidence of scorched earth and cremated bone (No. 877, Excavations 1999).

The pit was visible initially as a linear charcoal feature 0.5m long and, when excavated, revealed a pit c. 3m in diameter and c. 1m deep containing evidence of several layers of in situ burning.

The pit had been backfilled for half of its diameter. The remaining 'half-pit' contained four distinct layers of burning evidence. A thin surface of scorched earth forming the base was covered by a layer of sterile subsoil. This supported a layer of charcoal that was covered by a second subsoil layer, the surface of which contained evidence of scorching. This in turn had been covered by another layer of subsoil, the surface of which also contained evidence of scorching due to in situ burning.

It was apparent that the pit was completely emptied after each burning and backfilled with subsoil that formed a bed for the next burning.

No finds were recorded during excavation of the pit.

1 Jervis Place, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary