2000:1071 - CORNMARKET, Wexford, Wexford

The development site lay within the Anglo-Norman walled area, fronting onto the south-west of the site of the medieval marketplace (Cornmarket) on the junction with Abbey Street. This location was just outside the area of the Viking settlement. The Anglo-Norman town wall runs parallel to Abbey Street and is c. 30m to the west of the site. Joanna Wren had previously tested the site (see Excavations 2000, No. 1070), and features of 13th- and 14th-century date were revealed.

Two trenches were manually excavated. Trench 1 was in the western area of the site and was 15m long (north–south) and 8m wide. Several large layers of silty clay, containing both medieval and post-medieval pottery in sealed deposits, were uncovered. No structural features were recorded. These layers extended beyond the limits of excavation to the north, south and east. It is likely that these layers are the result of gardening activity. A small brick-lined feature of recent date, possibly a water cistern, was also uncovered in this trench.

Trench 2 was located along the southern area of the site and was 10m long (north–south) and 4m wide. A substantial north–south-aligned wall of medieval date was recorded at the eastern end of the trench. The wall consisted of seven well-built courses of roughly hewn stone, bonded with clay. It was 0.75m wide at the top. The wall has been left in situ. A series of layers that produced medieval pottery was built up against this wall; these layers include the remains of wall collapse and rebuilding episodes.

Monitoring of piling, slot-beams and pad foundations was undertaken by Stuart Elder subsequent to the excavation. During the monitoring phase, no previously unrecorded medieval features or deposits were encountered.

Ballytrisnane, Old Parish, Co. Waterford