County: Derry Site name: DERRY: Synod Hall, London Street
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/05/126
Author: Emma Donnelly, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Building
Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)
ITM: E 643385m, N 916543m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.994594, -7.322011
Monitoring took place of foundation trenches excavated within the confines of the Synod Hall, London Street, Derry. Due to the building’s close proximity to the city walls (SMR 14:33), it was surmised that the potential for archaeological remains was high.
The ground floor of the building was divided into two areas: Area 1, the main area of the building, and Area 2, the building’s original entrance hall. Three trenches c. 2m wide were excavated within Area 1 as well as two foundation pits c. 1.8m by 2.2m for metal support beams. There was a large variation in depth from present ground level to subsoil (0.9–1.75m) within a distance of c. 4m. Historical evidence records that, when first built in 1775, the building had functioned as a theatre. It is likely that the depth variation encountered may indicate the location of the theatre’s orchestra pit. To facilitate the building’s later reuse as a church, this area had been deliberately backfilled with rubble material within loose grey/brown silt in order to level the ground surface.
In Area 2 six small trenches c. 1m wide were excavated. Undisturbed subsoil was reached at a depth of c. 1.2m. Nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered.
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