2000:0659 - DROGHEDA: 45 and 46 John Street, Louth

45 John Street, Drogheda
An archaeological assessment was carried out to the rear of No. 45 John Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth, on 1 March 2000. It is proposed to change the use of the ground-floor area from domestic to retail, with a single-storey rear extension, two apartments and a new shopfront.

One test-trench was excavated by machine in the area of the proposed development. The excavation revealed that a considerable amount of demolition had taken place on the site within the recent past, as represented by the modern stone and brick rubble, and that both 17th–18th-century and late medieval deposits survive to an average depth of 2m. The rubble had been spread over the site and used as a base for the concrete yard surface. The rubble hardcore lay up against an east–west post-medieval stone wall, which probably represented a rear garden or boundary wall fronting onto the river. The second, north–south stone wall may represent a portion of an earlier post-medieval structure that pre-dates the construction of the houses along John Street. An earlier post-medieval cobbled yard surface was exposed in section below the east–west wall. Both walls were constructed above a 17th–18th-century garden soil that was 1m thick and clearly represents extensive activity on the site during that period, as indicated by the number of finds from this layer. A layer of late medieval garden soil was exposed at a depth of 2m below the 17th–18th-century layer and consisted of a sticky, brown clay containing charcoal and shell fragments. It is proposed to use a reinforced concrete raft as a foundation for the extension. The maximum invert level will not exceed 1m and will therefore impinge only on the rubble, which extends to a depth of 0.9m. There will be no archaeological impact from the proposed development as a result, and no further archaeological work is recommended.

46 John Street, Drogheda
An archaeological assessment was carried out to the rear of No. 46 John Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth. It is proposed to change the use of the existing building into a youth hostel with a three-storey extension to the rear.

One test-trench was excavated by machine in the area of the proposed development. The excavation revealed not only that had a considerable amount of demolition taken place on the site within the recent past, as represented by the modern stone and brick rubble, but also that late medieval and 17th–18th-century deposits survive at an average depth of 1.3m. The modern stone and redbrick rubble had been spread over the rear yard and used as a hardcore for the concrete surface, and it lay up against a post-medieval stone wall that extended east–west across the site. Both of these lay above the original post-medieval cobbled yard surface, which in turn lay above a layer of sand and gravel base. This yard surface was constructed above a thin layer of 17th–18th-century garden soil, which lay above a layer of thick, orange, dauby clay, which may represent a late medieval or early 17th-century floor or yard surface. This extended to a depth of 1.3m and lay above a layer of late medieval garden clay that contained a number of locally manufactured glazed pottery sherds.

It is proposed to use a reinforced concrete raft as a foundation for the extension. The maximum invert level will not exceed 1m and will therefore impinge only on the 17th/18th-century rubble, which extends to a depth of 0.9m. There will be no archaeological impact from the proposed development as a result, and no further archaeological work is recommended.

15 Trinity Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth