2000:0662 - DROGHEDA: Barlow House, Narrow West Street, Louth

An archaeological assessment was carried out at Barlow House, Narrow West Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth, from 24 to 28 February 2000. It is proposed to convert Barlow House to provide arts/social facilities, a studio, offices and a coffee shop and to extend disabled access. The modern prisoner cells to the east of Barlow House are to be demolished to accommodate a lift shaft and associated machine room to provide disabled access from the basement to the upper floor levels. The ground level in the area to the rear of the house is also to be reduced.

One test-trench was excavated by machine in the area of the proposed lift shaft. The excavation revealed that a variety of post-medieval deposits exist to a depth of 3.1m below the cell floor level. The thick layer of topsoil appears to have been deliberately deposited to raise the ground level to that of the ground floor in order to construct the detention cells in this area. This level was raised above an existing tarmac yard surface, which had been constructed above a layer of orange, rubble hardcore deposited over a brick drain or culvert, which was clearly post-medieval in date. Even though no cut for Barlow House was exposed, it is possible that the sticky, dauby clay uncovered along the outer wall represents a backfilled cut.

Although this area had been greatly disturbed over the centuries, mainly by the excavation and construction that went into the building of both Barlow House and Gleeson’s public house, a narrow layer of medieval garden soil was exposed between both foundations at a depth of 3.1m. This layer was only 1m wide and contained frequent amounts of shell and animal bone; it had been disturbed by a layer of post-medieval, grey, sticky clay. However, the top of a second medieval layer was exposed in a small test-trench at a depth of 3.7m. The base of the proposed lift shaft is c. 4.5m below the level of the cell block, or c. 0.7m below the basement floor level. This would require a further ground reduction of c. 0.6–0.7m below the level reached in the test-trench in an area measuring c. 2.5m by 2.5m. This would clearly impinge on the medieval stratigraphy exposed at the base of the excavation. The remainder of the area not affected by the lift shaft, in the region of the proposed lobby, requires a further ground reduction of 0.2m, and this too would impinge upon the archaeological stratigraphy.

The foundation level to the north of the lift shaft, in the area of the proposed machine room, will be c. 1m higher than that of the lift shaft and will therefore impinge only upon post-medieval stratigraphy, which dates to the 19th–20th century. Consequently it is recommended that any further ground reduction associated with the construction of the lift shaft be archaeologically resolved by hand-excavation. This would involve the excavation of a square trench c. 2.5m by 2.5m to a further depth of c. 0.75m.

It is unlikely that the construction of the machine room will affect archaeological stratigraphy, as it will be confined to a much higher level and disturb only post-medieval deposits dating to the 19th–20th century. However, it is recommended that any ground disturbance in this area be monitored in the event that archaeological stratigraphy is exposed.

Limited excavation and monitoring were carried out at the site from 27 to 31 March 2000, following the results of the initial assessment carried out on 28 February 2000. A limited archaeological excavation was carried out in the area of the proposed lift shaft to resolve the medieval stratigraphy exposed during the assessment, which measured 2.1m by 2.3m and was excavated to a depth of 5m, 1m below the basement floor level. The post-medieval topsoil, thin demolition material, tarmacadam yard surface and redeposited rubble were removed by machine to a depth of 2.3m and lay above a second post-medieval, brick, vaulted culvert. This culvert ran north–south and clearly post-dated the slate-covered brick culvert that was exposed to the south. This had been cut into a post-medieval brown clay containing mortar and brick fragments, which had been cut by the redbrick culvert and the redeposited rubble to a depth of 3.1m. A base sherd of an 18th-century brown-glazed vessel was recovered from this layer. This layer extended to a depth of 2.9m and overlay a layer of post-medieval, grey, sticky clay. This layer extended to a depth of 4m and overlay a late medieval garden soil. This layer had been cut by the foundation wall for Gleeson’s public house to the east and by the cut for Barlow House to the west. This had been backfilled with a redeposited, post-medieval, sticky, dauby clay and rubble and extended to a depth of 4.7m, where it overlay the mortared stone footing for Barlow House. The late medieval garden clay was hand-excavated to a depth of 5m, and no finds were recovered. Excavation ceased at this point, and no further work is required.

Archaeological monitoring was conducted during the ground reduction and construction of the proposed machine room to the north of the lift shaft and lobby. This area measured 2.5m by 4.9m and was machine-excavated to a depth of 3.5m. The dark brown, post-medieval topsoil extended to a depth of 1.5m and overlay a thin layer of gravel, stone and brick fragments. This layer extended to a depth of 1.7m and overlay a thin layer of modern tarmacadam, which in turn overlay redeposited orange rubble. This extended to a depth of 2.3m and overlay the vaulted redbrick culvert and post-medieval brown clay. This layer was 0.9m thick and overlay the post-medieval, grey, sticky clay at a depth of 3.1m. Excavation continued to a further depth of 0.4m until the proposed floor level of the machine room was reached. Excavation ceased at this point. No archaeological features or deposits were exposed, and no finds were recovered. No further work is required.

Archaeological monitoring was conducted during the mechanical and hand reduction of the area to the rear of Barlow House. This area was reduced to a depth of 3.65m below the current rear yard level and 0.15m below the basement floor level. The fill of the rear area consisted of a redeposited, dark brown clay and rubble. No archaeological features or deposits were exposed, and no finds were recovered. No further work is required.

The area of the proposed lift shaft was resolved by hand-excavation to a total depth of 5m, or 1m below the basement floor level. The late medieval garden soil had a maximum width of 1.6m; it had been heavily disturbed during the construction of both Barlow House and Gleeson’s public house and survived beneath numerous post-medieval layers dating from the 18th–20th centuries. No further work is required.

The area of the machine room was reduced, by machine, through post-medieval deposits. No significant archaeological features or deposits were exposed. Similarly the rear area of Barlow House consisted of a redeposited brown clay and rubble that had been backfilled following the construction of Barlow House. It is likely that any archaeology present in this area was destroyed during the construction of Barlow House. No significant archaeological features or deposits were exposed in this area. Consequently no further work is required. However, further archaeological investigation or monitoring will be required during any future proposed development in the rear yard area behind Barlow House.

15 Trinity Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth