County: Waterford Site name: NEWTOWN, Site 1 (N25 Waterford Bypass, Contract 1)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0208
Author: Deirdre Murphy, ACS Ltd.
Site type: Enclosure, Pit and Burnt spread
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 651408m, N 610233m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.241427, -7.247265
Site 1 was identified following the environmental impact statement for the N25 Waterford Bypass, Contract 1, as an area of high archaeological potential after an examination of the topographical nature of the scheme. The area was in the townland of Newtown, on a prominent ridge between Chainages 1500 and 2000. An assessment was carried out that involved machine-assisted trial-trenching along the centre-line of the road, with offsets at 45° angles on alternate sides. Trenching was restricted by the landowner at this site, and a gas pipeline extending through the site dictated the position and extent of trenching. Geophysical survey identified an anomaly that was interpreted as an enclosure, but testing failed to confirm this.
Many of the features identified during testing may be related to agricultural activity and land clearance, and four ditches were recognised as field boundaries from first-edition OS maps. A ditch feature in the centre-line trench may be prehistoric, as a tiny sherd of prehistoric pottery was recovered from the fill. Over 40m to the south-west of the ditch a stone bank of unknown date was evident. A pit and associated burnt spread were noted 26m north of this in an offset trench. A tiny sherd of coarse prehistoric pottery of unknown date recovered from the fill of the pit was similar to the sherd retrieved from the fill of the ditch. It is possible that these features are interrelated and form part of a larger site, but, as only limited testing was permitted, this cannot be accurately determined. Further work, including resolution, is recommended before the construction stage.
Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth
