County: Antrim Site name: QUEENS BUILDING, 8–10A ROYAL AVENUE, BELFAST
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/05/119
Author: Stefanie McMullen, ADS Ltd, Westlink Enterprise Centre, 30–50 Distillery Street, Belfast, BT12 5BJ.
Site type: 18th-century urban dwellings
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 733622m, N 874395m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.600139, -5.931942
Monitoring was carried out on behalf of the Milestone Trust relating to the development of Queens Building at 8–10A Royal Avenue in Belfast city centre. Archaeological deposits, comprised primarily of the remains of stone foundations, were uncovered below the existing floor level within Queens Building. These remains have been interpreted as the foundations of possible 18th-century buildings, which are depicted on maps of that date located along the street frontage of what is now Royal Avenue in Belfast city centre.
The stone remains were located within the north-west and south-east corners of the development site. They were found to have survived to a maximum depth of 0.6m, located on average c. 0.4m below modern ground level within the confines of the existing building. They had generally been constructed directly above subsoil, and in some cases deposits of red-brick fragments and mortar adhering to the surface of the surviving structural remains would suggest that these were the stone foundations for red-brick buildings. This would support the cartographic evidence, which depicts two-storey red-brick residences present in this area of Belfast in the 18th century.
The remains of what appeared to be a corner of a building were uncovered within Test Trench 5 – possibly a section of a terrace house fronting on to Royal Avenue. These remains were again of drystone construction and had been disturbed by later activity resulting from the construction of the present building in the 19th century. This trench was excavated within the far south-eastern corner of the development area.
The actual building remains comprised two drystone foundations, F53, which was orientated north–south, and its return, F73, which abutted wall F53. The walls were 0.5m in width and survived to a height of 0.4m. No foundation cuts were visible. A small amount of pottery retrieved from the cavity between walls F53 and F73 would suggest a date of 17th/18th century. This may represent the rear corner of one of the buildings depicted on John MacLanahan’s map of 1715, which shows terracing of two-storey dwellings along both sides of the road.
