County: Antrim Site name: 9–15 QUEEN STREET, BELFAST
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/05/021
Author: Colin Dunlop, Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, 638 Springfield Road, Belfast, BT12 7DY.
Site type: Urban, post-medieval
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 733512m, N 874236m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.598732, -5.933715
The excavations on Queen Street revealed evidence of four centuries of Belfast’s history. The earliest feature discovered was the 17th-century defensive ditch, which was found, as expected, along the known line of the ramparts. It was oriented north–south and was 19m by 7.5m by 0.9m deep. It had gently sloping sides, a flat base and a stepped central gully. The ditch contained several in situ stakes and was filled with several layers of fill.
Sometime in the 18th century the rampart appears to have been flattened, the ditch filled in and the area became part of the rear plots of the houses along Castle Street. Trees and shrubs were removed and various pits and ditches were dug. By 1830 the outer parts of the site, on all sides, had been built upon. Only the central area of the site remained as an empty yard. Successive building works continued to the present day, with the latest features on the site being the foundations of the 20th-century building that was demolished immediately prior to work beginning on site. No evidence for buildings prior to this was discovered, which suggests that the newer buildings destroyed the older buildings during their construction.
