2004:1854 - QUINSBORO ROAD/MAIN STREET/FLORENCE ROAD, BRAY, Wicklow

Testing was undertaken in March 2004 in response to a condition of planning permission. The development site is bounded on the north by buildings fronting onto Quinsboro Road, on the east by the rear of private dwellings fronting onto Eglinton Road, on the south by Florence Road and on the west mainly by buildings fronting onto Main Street. It lies partly within the Urban Archaeology Survey's designated area of interest for the town of Bray and extends into the RMP area of Bray. Underground services criss-crossed the site - which was tested when the site was still in use as a carpark, prior to demolition - and were a factor in the methodology and layout of the testing regime. Several other unmarked services were encountered during the assessment, forcing changes to be made to one of the test-trenches. A total of 90.1m of trenches were excavated to sterile natural subsoil at 0.65-1.2m below the existing ground level. While disturbed layers associated with the laying of the carpark tarmac contained occasional to moderate amounts of mid/late 19th-century finds, no significant archaeology was unearthed anywhere on the site.