County: Laois Site name: MORETT 1
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 03E1349
Author: Jonathan Dempsey, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Watercourse and Pit
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 654322m, N 703828m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.082291, -7.189185
Identified during monitoring of topsoil-stripping undertaken as part of the main construction phase of the M7 Heath–Mayfield Motorway Scheme (No. 1051, Excavations 2003, 03E0623), Morett 1 consisted of a man-made water channel, two pits and a stake-hole.
The water channel crossed the road-line from north to south. It was, on average, 2.11m wide and 0.21m deep, with gently sloping sides and a broad flat base. Two fills were present, a basal fill of compact light-grey sandy silt with occasional sub-rounded stones, and an upper fill of loosely compacted dark-greyish-brown silty clay with occasional sub-rounded stones. This feature is probably part of a water channel marked on the OS 6-inch first edition of 1839 and subsequent editions.
This channel cut a subcircular pit, the remains of which measured 0.75m north–south by 0.35m by 0.1m deep. This pit had a charcoal-rich fill. A second, sub-oval, pit, which measured 0.75m north–south by 0.35m by 0.3m deep, was located to the south-south-west. It was filled with a friable silty clay with occasional charcoal flecks. A stake-hole was located 70mm to the east of this pit. The stake-hole measured 0.15m east–west by 0.13m by 0.11m deep. The sides of this feature were oxidised and it was filled with a brown clayey silt with occasional charcoal flecks.
Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth
