2003:0011 - BELFAST: Former Woolworth’s Store, High Street/Anne Street/Cornmarket/Crown Entry, Antrim

An excavation was carried out for Dunne’s Stores at the former Woolworth’s Department Store, bounded by High Street, Anne Street, Cornmarket and Crown Entry, within the historic core of Belfast. The excavation took place between 1 September and 20 October 2003. The proposed refurbishment of the building’s interior required three service trenches to be excavated within this archaeologically sensitive area of the city centre.

Trench 1 was situated on the north side of Anne Street, near where Anne Street and Cornmarket meet, and measured 4.9m (north–south) by 3.2m. Trench 2 was located on the south side of High Street at the front of the Woolworth’s building, and measured 5.2m (north–south) by 2.3m. Trench 3 was situated within the building and measured 5.7m (east–west) by 3.4m.

Trench 1 was opened by the developer prior to the identification of the need for archaeological mitigation of the proposed development. Mechanical excavation had cut through recent shop-floor levels, including a mortar-rich layer of late 19th- or early 20th-century date. A brick-lined trench that constituted the foundation for the standing east wall of the building had disturbed an area extending 1m westward to a depth of around 0.7m. Once the remaining modern rubble material had been removed, a dark, slightly gritty, loam deposit, some 0.35m in depth, was uncovered containing a large quantity of post-medieval artefacts, including clay-pipe stems and bowls, and North Devon ware, brownware and slipware. Beneath this deposit was a dark humic layer, mottled with a greyish-blue ‘sleetch’ or clay; a similar artefact assemblage was recovered from this layer. On removal of this deposit, a clean greyish-blue clay was identified. Excavation of this deposit at the south end of the trench revealed a horizontal timber, aligned east–west, that was set on two other timbers, one of which was positioned vertically into the clay. A dendrochronological sample obtained for the horizontal timber was dated to AD 1619 +/–9 (David Brown, personal communication).

The initial removal of the residual hardcore material in Trench 2 revealed two contemporary brick walls running inside the western and northern edges of the trench. A mortar/clay deposit was present to the south and east of the walls. This deposit contained a large quantity of glass fragments together with some clay-pipe stems and overlay a small layer of stones and bricks, itself covered by a thin lens of dark clay, which appears to represent the original floor level associated with the two brick walls. These deposits had maximum dimensions of 0.62 by 0.59m. On removal of these deposits, a layer of relatively sterile clay, similar in nature to the clean clay recorded in Trench 1, was identified as pre-dating the brick walls. The excavation of this layer revealed a cut feature in clean sand, filled by the clay deposit. Excavation of this feature produced several sherds of medieval everted-rim ware. A series of deposits—initially interpreted as four timbers—was recorded lining the base of the cut feature towards its north end. However, analysis by Professor Mike Ballie, Professor Valerie Hall and Mr David Brown (School of Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University, Belfast) demonstrated that this was not the case. While the deposits did contain a thin slice of wood, they were largely made up of decayed plant and organic material.

Trench 3 was located in the building’s interior. The archaeological sequence was similar to that recorded in Trench 1, although the west end of the trench had been badly disturbed from the insertion of a modern steel support pillar and concrete foundations. This area produced tile ‘wasters’ of probable post-medieval date, suggesting that tile manufacture was taking place on or close to the site. A double-sided bone comb of possible medieval date was also recovered from this context. The archaeological stratigraphy towards the east end of the trench survived intact. The removal of modern deposits revealed a dark humic layer containing post-medieval artefacts similar to those recorded in Trench 1. Two large stone walls, approximately 1m in width, were uncovered. Although the join of the walls was truncated by the insertion of a modern lift-shaft, it is likely that they once formed part of a substantial structure. From the clay deposit situated within the area between the two walls, a single timber covering a drain (running north–south) was retrieved for dendrochronological dating. An initial date of the late 1500s was given, although there was no sapwood present, and it is likely that the timber dates from the mid-1600s (David Brown, personal communication).

Discussion:
The excavated trenches lie within an area of Belfast with significant archaeological potential, since this is the likely location of the medieval borough. In addition, Chichester’s town was laid out in this part of the city centre during the 17th century. The identification of everted-rim ware within a gully of potential medieval date is of particular importance, since this feature may be associated with the pre-Plantation settlement of Belfast. Similarly, evidence of early 17th-century construction and tile manufacture adds to the archaeological record for Belfast’s early development. Post-excavation analysis is sure to shed further light on the results of the excavation.

School of Archaeology & Palaeoecology, Queen’s University, Belfast BT7 1NN and