2003:1238 - DROGHEDA: 1a Greenview Cottages, Beamore Road, Louth

An assessment took place of a proposed development at 1A Greenview Cottages, Beamore Road, Drogheda. Testing took place on 15 January 2003. The development consists of apartments in a single T-shaped building, with the head of the 'T' fronting onto the road. The site lies immediately south of the medieval town of Drogheda and of the zone of archaeological potential.

Four test-trenches were dug using a mechanical digger fitted with a 1m trenching bucket. Trenches 1-3 ran from west to east along the footprint of the building and Trench 4 ran north to south at the east of the site through the carpark area. Excavation was undertaken to the depth of natural undisturbed subsoils, which ranged from 0.1 to 0.5m below the modern surface at the front of the site to 0.7m at the rear.

Seven features were recorded, consisting of drains, foundation courses and cobbled spreads. One of these cobbled areas appeared to be somewhat lower than other features on the site. These other features could be related to the buildings that had been demolished prior to development, but the potentially earlier cobbling may relate to one of the earlier phases of development. A single sherd of blackware was recovered from a layer overlying the cobbling.

Newcomen's 1657 map of Drogheda, though its accuracy is representative at best, shows that by this period some extramural housing is evident along a north-south lane running from the Duleek Gate to a bridge over the Cooley River. The largest of these houses is situated on the west side of the Beamore Road at its junction with Plattin Road. Two smaller structures, set within large open sites, are located on the east side of the road and the southernmost of these may correspond to the location of the proposed development. Monitoring of development in this area was therefore recommended.

Unit 4, Dundrum Business Park, Dundrum, Dublin 14.