County: Waterford Site name: KNOCKHOUSE UPPER (2)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 03E0339
Author: Linda Clarke, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Field system
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 655872m, N 611861m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.255629, -7.181638
An excavation was carried out at Knockhouse Upper 2, Knockhouse Upper, Co. Waterford, between 25 and 27 March 2003 on behalf of Waterford City Council in advance of the construction of the new N25 Waterford Bypass. The project was funded by the Irish government and part funded by the European Union under the National Development Plan 2000–2006 and was administered through Waterford City Council.
This site was originally identified between 26 February and 11 March 2003 following an assessment carried out during the initial assessment phase of works by Tara O'Neill (Excavations 2002, No. 1798, 02E0249). This assessment involved machine-assisted trial-trenching along the centre-line of the road with offsets at 45º angles at intervals of 30m on alternate sides. This site was assessed as part of Site B, which consisted of six fields and was originally identified as Area 7 within Site B, along the Western Link Road from the N25 bypass. Site B was identified subsequent to the EIS as an area of high archaeological potential after a critical examination of the topographical nature of the scheme.
An area 20m by 20m was stripped of topsoil by machine during the resolution phase of works in order to establish the significance of the spread exposed during the assessment phase. All the other features exposed, with the exception of the spread, were associated with modern drainage. All the drains were interconnected and were aligned in approximately the same direction and appeared to be heading for the ditch that contained the Knockhouse stream and bordered the site to the west. The spread consisted of a brown silty clay flecked with charcoal that measured 1.7m by 0.58m and had a maximum thickness of 0.06m. The absence of associated features and finds within the area stripped would suggest that it was an isolated feature. Sherds of glass, a fragment of brick, a clay-pipe stem, delft and earthenware were recovered from this site.
Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth
