2003:2363 - NEWTOWN/WOODSTOWN/GRACEDIEU EAST/GRACEDIEU WEST, Waterford

Testing was carried out between 6 March and 9 May 2003 on behalf of Waterford City Council in advance of the construction of the new N25 Waterford Bypass. Fifteen fields were assessed by means of machineexcavated trial-trenching, with offsets at 45° every 30m. Fields 16–21 were located in Newtown, Fields 22–26 were located in Adamstown and Fields 27–30 were located in Gracedieu East/Gracedieu West.

Newtown
Fifty-one test-trenches were excavated in Fields 16–21. The sod and topsoil measured an average of 0.3m in depth and lay above the natural orange sticky clay. No archaeological features or deposits were exposed.

Woodstown
A double-ditched enclosure has been identified in the townland of Woodstown in Fields 22–23, where a total of 29 test-trenches were excavated, enclosing an extensive area containing a large number of pits, hearths, stake- and post-holes, representing largescale domestic and outlying industrial activity. A number of these features were later partially excavated during further testing. The site was subsequently designated as Woodstown 6. A geophysical survey was carried out between the test-trenches by Earthsound Archaeological Geophysics in July 2003 using a Geoscan Research FM36 fluxgate gradiometer, and further archaeological features were identified.

The enclosure can clearly be seen in the aerial photograph of the site. It is also visible in Field 23, outside the CPO boundary, as a very low bank, and survives in a portion of the existing field boundary in Field 22.

The site was defended from the surrounding countryside to the north, east and south by two enclosing ditches and backed onto the River Suir, although it was partially disturbed by the construction of a railway line in the 19th century. It is unlikely that the enclosure represents a ringfort-type monument, but it may represent a possible longphort or similar type of site. The interior of the defended area in Field 23 contained a number of possible houses or structures. At least one oval-shaped structure was identified in Trench 83, with a possible rectangular house also present. The area to the south in Field 22 contains fewer post-holes or domestic features and may represent the location of the possible industrial centre, especially as a number of hearths/kilns were identified in Trenches 60 and 60h. The burnt spread F1214 probably represents both domestic and industrial waste deposited on the slopes of the site here. The area beyond this slope today is marshy and covered with coniferous trees, but at the time of the site’s occupation it may have been flooded from a nearby stream. Testing within part of this area revealed that the peat layer measures up to 4m in depth in places and, although a number of tree trunks, branches, etc., were exposed, no worked wood or archaeologically preserved features were identified. Two environmental cores were also obtained of the stratigraphy for future environmental analysis.

A total of 169 finds were recovered during the two phases of testing in April and August–September 2003, of which 138 were metal. In summary, these included 52 nails/rivets, 40 fragments of slag/furnace bottom, 35 decayed iron objects/flat iron pieces, one body sherd of chinaware, one body sherd of stoneware, one clay-pipe stem fragment, two polished stones, one fishing weight, one possible fishing weight/spindle whorl, one iron fish-hook, twelve fragments of possible clay tuyère, two hooked iron objects, two possible hone stones/fragments, three metal weights, one stone weight, one body sherd of unglazed pottery, one base sherd of a possible pottery crucible, three hazelnut fragments, one fragment of decorated bone, one possible gaming piece, one curved metal handle, one stone fishing weight, three iron pins/fragments and two decayed iron knives.

Two charcoal samples, identified as alder, were sent for radiocarbon analysis; the results indicate that the site dates to the 8th–10th centuries and was probably abandoned at some stage before the 11th century. To place the site in its local, Waterford, context, Woodstown 6 may either slightly pre-date or may be contemporary with the Norse foundation of Waterford city. There is also a reference to an ‘Old Fort’ in the townland of Woodstown, the ‘name of field in which stood a mound, demolished during the building of the railway, and found to contain a large quantity of bone’ (Power 1907, 367).

The site of Woodstown 6 appears to represent a defended riverside settlement, with associated industrial-type activity. The artefacts, in particular the lead weights, and the radiocarbon dates taken together confirm that the site most probably dates to within the Hiberno-Norse/early medieval period, AD 800–1100. It is proposed to preserve the site in situ, with the preservation by record of two areas within the site as part of this mitigation.

A further 31 test-trenches were excavated in Fields 24–26 to the east. The sod and topsoil measured an average of 0.4m in thickness and lay above the natural orange clay. No archaeological features or deposits were exposed.

Gracedieu East/Gracedieu West
Twenty test-trenches were excavated within Fields 27–29. The sod and topsoil measured an average of 0.3m in depth and lay above the natural grey marly clay. No archaeological features or deposits were exposed.

Reference
Power, P.  The placenames of the Decies, 384–91, London.

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