2001:1322 - WEXFORD: Spawell Road, Wexford

The development at Spawell Road consisted of four apartment blocks and associated services. In 1841 the site was occupied by a rectory, the area to the rear of which was open ground bordered to the north-east by the River Slaney. During the second half of the 19th century a programme of land reclamation, focusing on the northern slobs, extended the property by approximately 64m. The rectory was demolished in the late 20th century.

Initial site clearance involved the reduction of the existing ground level, and the underlying material consisted of a rubble mix (stone, red brick and 20th-century debris) presumably spread after the demolition of the rectory. This rubble stratum was found to cover the complete extent of the site, varying in depth from 0.5m to 1m. During site clearance two features were exposed adjacent to Spawell Road; both were directly associated with the rectory. Located to the fore of the house site and originally extending under its façade was a brick-built cellar which contained a vaulted brick roof. A well, the construction of which post-dates the 1883 Ordnance Survey, was located at the south-east of the rectory site. The 1883 survey shows a well to the rear of the property in an area now occupied by a housing estate.

A total of 52 pits were excavated to bedrock, with depths varying from 0.5m to 3.3m. Underlying the rubble fill ubiquitous to the site, the strata from the pits fell into two defined groups. Those in the south-western area contained a standard garden soil horizon overlying a glacial till of compact orange clay. Here bedrock tended to occur close to the existing ground level. The pits in the north-eastern portion of the site contained a deposit of sandy silt overlying a mixed glacial till (orange clay and light brown sand). The difference is due, presumably, to the proximity of the latter to the original foreshore.

There were no indications of features pre-dating the 19th century.

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