2003:0222 - CORK: 20–23 Lavitt’s Quay, Cork

Four test-trenches were excavated on a commercial development site on Lavitt’s Quay close to the north channel of the River Lee. This site is located to the east of the medieval walled city of Cork and cartographic evidence indicates that this area was marshland prior to 17th-century reclamation works. The upper deposits recorded contained a high content of limestone and brick rubble and formed a made-up layer associated with a recently demolished building and yard surface. This loose fill material measured up to 1m deep and the sides of the test-trenches became unstable and began to collapse at this depth. The lower fills appeared to have been backfilled into the area in an effort to raise the ground level and these may be associated with the reclamation of this area of the city. This fill material contained moderate inclusions of brick and mortar in a clayey soil matrix. The upper portion of this material was truncated by narrow trenches containing ceramic drainage pipes. The basal greyish-brown estuarine clay was encountered at a depth of 2m below modern ground level at the north end of the site and this subsoil rose in the area to the south of the site, where it was located at a depth of 1.5m below modern ground level. The removal of a number of concrete-encased oil tanks in the former Burmah petrol station, at the west end of the site, was also monitored. There were no archaeological features or finds uncovered at this development site.

AE House, Monahan Road, Cork