County: Louth Site name: STONETOWN LOWER
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 11:102 Licence number: 00E0927
Author: Finola O’Carroll, Cultural Resource Development Services Ltd.
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 690864m, N 802911m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.967501, -6.615143
Pre-development test-trenching was undertaken at a proposed house site, located within the constraint of a possible castle site. The presence of a castle was noted in the Folklore Commission MS, and the informant, a Mrs Murray, stated that stones that marked the location of the castle had been visible. These could no longer be seen at the time of a site inspection carried out in 1967. The landowner and developer, Mr Brendan Pepper, stated that the fields in this area were often ascribed the name of the landowner and that this field had once belonged to the Castle family. It is possible that the record of this field being the site of a castle was derived from the name of the field.
Seven test-trenches were excavated by mechanical digger fitted with a 2m-wide ditching bucket, in the area of the septic tank (Trenches 1–3), the house site (Trenches 4–5) and the driveway (Trench 7). Excavations were carried out to the interface of topsoil and subsoil. In general topsoil/humus was c. 0.15–0.25m deep and was mid-brown, not very humic and stony throughout with small, angular stones (50–70mm across), which were moderately plentiful. Beneath was an interface or B horizon of lighter-coloured, stonier soil, c. 0.13–0.2m deep. The subsoil was a mottled clay with plentiful angular stones and gritty gravel. Maximum depth to subsoil was c. 0.28–0.6m. Trench 6 was excavated on the line of the dug-out field fence, which is also the townland boundary between Stonetown Lower and Newtown. However, there was no visible trace of the townland boundary or field boundary beyond this. Nothing of archaeological interest was noted during the assessment.
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