2004:1522 - HAZELWOOD DEMESNE, Sligo

It is proposed to use part of a large field for a house in the space between an existing modern house to the west and a ringfort to the east. The only possible access drive is to hug the boundary wall, with the property to the west, and this is 17m from the ringfort.

Testing was carried out on 14 January. A digger with a toothless bucket was used to remove the sod and soil down to the natural glacial deposits in 1.2mwide trenches. Three areas within a 20m limit of the ringfort were tested. Trench 1 was 22m long, Trench 2 was 10m long and Trench 3 was 69m long. The full length of this eastern boundary was stripped and there was no indication of a fosse to the ringfort within the trench opened. Towards the northern end of Trench 3 was a shallow ditch, 0.2m deep and 0.7m wide. There was nothing of an archaeological nature in the fill and examination of the adjacent ground and subsequent re-examination of the aerial photos did not confirm a continuation on either side.

The soil sequence was consistent in the trenches opened. There was 0.15m of sod over 0.15m of brown soil over the natural glacial daub, grey and orange in colour and gravelly in texture. There were many parallel striations or shallow narrow cuts in this surface, running north-south, slightly off parallel to Trench 3. These initially gave cause for concern. However, re-examination of a 1951 photo, V.203/36, showed cropmarks of intense tillage of mid-20th-century vintage on the same line as those seen on the surface of the glacial daub; the conclusion is that the striations are of no archaeological concern. The May 1973 GSI photo shows a minor circular cropmark immediately outside of the ringfort on the northwest, but this is outside of the development area and will not be interfered with.

There were no archaeological finds in the area tested.