2001:1251 - WATERFORD: 21 George’s Street, Waterford

This site lies within the walled medieval city of Waterford. Development required the underpinning of the wall foundations and tanking of the basement floor of the front and mid-section of the building. A concrete surface was placed on the basement floor and extended up the basement walls, thus creating a concrete tank. The purpose was to seal off the new basement floor from dampness and flooding. This covered an area measuring 10–15m by 4–5m, with a small annex cellar, 2.5m by 1.6m, to the front. All traces of earlier floor surfaces had been removed from the front section of the basement. The new level of the basement was excavated through compact sterile yellow clay. A portion of the east-facing internal wall was removed from basement to roof level. The remainder of the wall common to the adjoining property was left in place. The removal of this wall allowed access to a small basement cellar (2.5m by 1.6m). A cobble surface embedded in sand still remained in place. Directly under the cobbles was compact sterile yellow clay.

During pre-development testing successive floor surfaces were uncovered in the mid-section of the basement. Both limestone flags and red brick tiles were used. Monitoring revealed small extensions to that already recorded. Under these surfaces was a mix of mortar, sand and silt that overlay compact yellow clay. Pottery recovered from this layer was a mix of late medieval and post-medieval sherds.

Midway through groundworks amendments were made to the original plans when it was decided to tank the rear basement floor, an area of 3.6m by 4.7m.

Excavation revealed substantial foundations and therefore underpinning was not required. These walls were rubble-built and were two to three courses (under 1m) high, built mostly of limestone although some sandstone was used. Sections of these walls were mortar-bonded but in other places redeposited yellow clay had been used as bonding.

These foundations were part of an earlier structure, probably post-medieval in date, which were incorporated into the 19th-century building. No traces of earlier floor surfaces were found in association with walls. Under the flagstone floor was an extensive medieval organic deposit, which appeared to extend under these walls. This deposit was located at a depth of 2.6m below the present street level. Around 0.2–0.25m of this layer was removed to accommodate the depth required by the new floor. This deposit had been badly disturbed in the north-west corner. Excavation of this layer was undertaken by hand. No individual features were noted within the layer. Its depth, c. 0.8m, was greatest towards the north-west of the basement, where there was a gentle slope in the ground level. In places the organic deposit bottomed out and overlay compact sterile yellow clay.

The earliest pottery recovered dates from the late 12th or mid-13th century and includes eleven sherds from a Ham Green jug. The remainder of the pottery dates from the late 13th/14th century and consists of Saintonge green-glazed and unglazed, Waterford A and B, and one sherd of cooking ware. The wall foundations have been left in place and terram was placed over the remainder of the organic deposit.

24 Queen Street, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary