County: Louth Site name: DROGHEDA: 40 John Street
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0019 ext.
Author: Malachy Conway, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Historic town
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 708899m, N 774937m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.712744, -6.350301
A third stage of assessment was undertaken to establish the date and extent of two stretches of walls revealed during the Stage II assessment (Excavations 1999, 197–9). Two trenches were excavated: Trench 6 was north–south along the line of wall F7, and Trench 7 west–east along the line of wall F5/F6.
In Trench 6, which was 14.5m north–south x 1.5m, rubble overburden was c. 1m deep, encapsulating wall F7. The wall was constructed of limestone blocks, slabs and irregular stones and was traced for a length of 13m, surviving to 0.7m wide and 0.6m in maximum height. The wall had a fair face and was flanked along the east by a deposit of plastic, orange clay up to 0.4m thick. The wall cut into the underlying black, organic horizon (Deposit 4), and several upper sections of the wall were bonded with concrete, particularly along the southern stretch.
In Trench 7, which measured 14m west–east by 1.5m, rubble overburden also encapsulated F5/6 to a depth of 1m. The wall was constructed in the same way as F7 and was traced for a length of 14m, surviving to 0.7m wide and 0.5m in maximum height. It cut Deposit 4, and several upper sections of the wall were bonded with concrete.
Assessment Stages II and III established the top and basal level of the reclamation deposit (Deposit 4). The top of this deposit lies at 2.04m OD towards the street frontage, rising to 3.76m OD towards the back (north end) of the site, while to the east the top of the deposit is at 1.29–1.01m OD, with the base at 0.52m OD. The masonry walls date to the late 18th or early 19th century. The development proposes to avoid piling along the projected line of the timber revetment, and all ground-beams will be inserted at c. 3.05m OD, c. 0.9m below pavement level. The underside of the proposed pile caps will be located at 3.05m OD, c. 0.95m above the medieval horizon (Deposit 4). Therefore the potential impact of the development on the medieval horizon will be limited to the penetration occasioned by the piles.
15 Trinity Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth
