2002:0373 - YOUGHAL: The Bridewell, Mill Road, Cork

Pre-construction testing of the site of a new Tesco supermarket was carried out in October 2002. The site is on the northern edge of the town, outside the walled area. It is adjacent to the site of the town gasworks (c. 1830), and the remains of the old bridewell form part of the site. All that survives of this is an Egyptian-style limestone doorway with the date 1848 on top, which is set into the boundary wall. All of the interior buildings were removed within the last 50 years, when the building was used as a garage, but the layout of the building is clearly shown on the 1877 OS town plan. A modern petrol station forms part of the site. This is to be removed completely to allow vehicular access to the site. The remainder is waste ground. Most of the area had been mudflats, reclaimed from the harbour as part of relief works carried out before the Famine.

Nine trenches were opened across the site. The trench closest to the forecourt of the petrol station uncovered a mixed deposit of sandstone building rubble, brick, mortar and several sherds of earthenware pottery beneath 1.2m of modern hardcore. This deposit was 0.9m thick and lay on the natural, grey, sandy silt. Trenches 2 and 3 were within the Bridewell wall. Trench 2 lay just inside the wall. Below layers of tarmac and hardcore was a layer of sandstone rubble similar to that seen in Trench 1, but here the stones were smaller and the amount of pottery, all earthenware, was much greater. This deposit was 0.82m thick and lay on top of a similar deposit, which contained larger stones and very little pottery. This was 1m thick, and the natural silt was below this. A sample of the pottery was examined by a specialist and found to be local ware, in a variety of vessel types, dating from the 18th/19th century. Trench 3 uncovered the northern wall of the Bridewell just below the surface, as well as part of the drainage system for the building, which was intact.

The remaining trenches were positioned at the rear of the site. These contained a series of peaty silts and sands. The only artefact recovered was a sherd of earthenware found in Trench 5. Trench 9, between the petrol station and the former gasworks, contained only hardcore, which lay directly on top of the natural silt.

The testing confirmed that the area fronting onto Mill Road had been substantially raised to allow construction in the early and mid-19th century. The ceramic material found is similar to other pottery found in the town. The nearest pottery works, Drury’s, was situated c. 100m to the south and was in operation from at least 1815 until it closed in 1914.

The Bridewell boundary wall will be conserved, and the modern buildings will be removed from the interior.

8 Marina Park, Victoria Road, Cork