2002:1284 - ARDEE: 28 Castle Street, Louth

An assessment of a proposed extension to the rear of a dwelling that adjoins the northern side of Ardee Castle took place. The proposed development consisted of a single-storey structure built beside the wall that divides the property from the yard to the rear of the castle. The site was considered significant as it lies within the medieval town of Ardee, which is defined as a zone of archaeological potential, and adjoins one of the tower-houses in the town.

Two test-pits were dug, with a small-toothed bucket attached to a mini-digger, along the front-wall line of the proposed extension. Test-pit 1 measured 2.16m north–south by 1.1m and was dug to 1.15m below the paving in the yard. Rubble fill layers with a ceramic pipe laid through them formed the upper 0.4m. A rough layer of stones extended to 0.6m below the present surface; these were in a matrix of a pale, gritty, wet clay that produced two sherds of post-medieval blackware. This layer overlay a mixed deposit of wet grey clay with black and yellow lenses and lenses of a sticky yellow/green marl, deepening on the south side. A layer of soft, dark grey/black clay silt was sandwiched between the grey and yellow lenses. This was 70–100mm thick and produced a sherd of early medieval pottery. These latter layers sloped fairly steeply. The soft clay silt was 0.8m deep at the northern end of the pit and 1.1m at the southern end. Below them were the natural subsoils of clay and sand.

Test-pit 2 was 6m east of Test-pit 1. It measured 2.1m north–south by 1.4m and was dug to a maximum depth of 1.1m. The ground at this point had sloped upward slightly by c. 0.01m. The upper layers were similar to those in Test-pit 1. A piece of post-medieval pottery, mottled ware, was recovered, at a similar level to those in Test-pit 1. Immediately below this was a layer of sticky, grey, silty clay that contained charcoal, bone and shell. As in Test-pit 1, the lower levels sloped from north to south; subsoil was reached at 0.9m below the surface at the north side and 1.1m at the south side.

Archaeological deposits consisting of clay silts containing medieval pottery of 13th–14th-century date occurred on the site. The deposits sloped from north to south, consistent with the local topography. There was a considerable overburden of post-medieval to modern material, with a minimum depth of 0.78m below present ground level. The depth at which material was found and the potential date of this material, 14th century or earlier, are consistent with evidence found by Kieran Campbell at the adjoining Ardee Castle (Excavations 1997, No. 365, 97E0171).

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