2004:1275 - KNOCKHARLEY, Meath

This work was undertaken as part of testing carried out ahead of the construction of a landfill rubbish dump by Greenstar Ltd. The proposed site of the landfill is in the townland of Knockharley and extends into the adjacent townlands of Tuiterath, Flemingstown and Curraghtown. There are no known monuments on the proposed site, although a possible holy well has been noted. The proposed development will operate as a regional residual landfill designed to receive up to 180,000 tonnes of municipal waste per year over a period of fourteen years. The landfill footprint will cover 62 acres, or 20%, of the 316-acre site. The facility will be developed in seven separate phases, each lasting two years. On completion, it is proposed to return the site to agricultural or amenity use.

The first phase of testing took place on 2–13 February 2004 and covered the access roadways and Phase 1 services. A single trench was excavated by a mechanical digger fitted with a 2m toothless ditching bucket along the centre-line of this access road that extends from the main N2 Dublin–Derry road across into the compound area, c. 850m to the west. Only one definite archaeological feature was recorded on this road, located c. 200m west of the N2 carriageway.

The well was located in the centre of Field 59, c. 200m to the west of the N2, and was initially recognised as a small pit with a diameter of c. 3m. The feature was fully excavated. The earliest activity involved the excavation of a fairly shallow pit that had been filled soon after by a deposit of blue-grey silty clay that contained a considerable amount of charcoal and heat-shattered stones. The pit was subcircular in plan with a shallow, concave profile and measured 3m by 2.45m, reaching a maximum depth of 0.43m. Upon excavation of this pit, it became clear that the water table in the area was quite high. It could be that this prompted the excavation of a deep well, which cut through the aforementioned pit. This consisted of a deep funnel-shaped pit, measuring 1.8m wide, that led down to a vertically sided shaft that had a diameter of 0.8m. This shaft, which was tilted slightly towards the diagonal, continued beneath the northern side of the earlier feature, creating a very pronounced overhang. The feature was excavated to a depth of 1.2m below the surface, after which it was deemed unpractical to proceed due to groundwater problems. The natural subsoil was reached at this depth at the south of the well, but at the north it seemed to continue and undercut the natural. The well was in turn filled by a mid-brownish-grey sandy silt deposit that contained frequent amounts of charcoal and very badly decayed wood, the majority of which would seem to have been placed around the perimeter of the well. This could have been a lining for the shaft, but the poor preservation of the wood made it virtually impossible to be more specific. Near the base a larger piece of wood that would seem to have been worked into a chisel-type point was recorded. It would appear that this was followed by a substantial deposit of orange/brown natural subsoil that was intended to seal off the well after it had fallen out of use.

Within a relatively short period of time two smaller pits were excavated through this deposit. Both of these would seem to have been deliberately filled and contained varying amounts of burnt stone and charcoal. In addition, one of these pits produced a single sherd of Late Bronze Age pottery that was decorated with small ridges. These were then deliberately sealed off by a deposit of orange gravel. This was followed by a sequence of two separate pits, both of which were finally sealed by the grey deposit. The purpose of these pits remains unknown; an extended area was stripped around the feature but did not produce any evidence of associated archaeological activity.

None of the other areas investigated produced any archaeological activity. However, c. 650m to the west in the area intended as a temporary construction compound, a semicircular linear feature was uncovered. This measured 4.6m in length and 0.24–0.28m in width. Two sections were excavated through this feature, the maximum depth of which was 0.09–0.1m, and they revealed shallow U-shaped profiles. The feature contained a single fill comprising moderately sticky and compact light-grey silty clay, with much charcoal towards the base in places. The ground was then covered in terram and hardcore.

The licence was transferred to Kieran Campbell (No. 1276, Excavations 2004) for the remainder of the testing programme.

27 Lindenwood Park, Foyle Springs, Derry