County: Derry Site name: ROSELICK MORE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 3:12 Licence number: AE/05/04
Author: Peter Bowen, Archaeological Development Services Ltd, Unit 48, Westlink Enterprise Centre, 30–50 Distillery Street, Belfast, BT12 5BJ.
Site type: Testing
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 583097m, N 649471m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.596250, -8.249480
An impact assessment on the route of a proposed wastewater pipeline and associated pumping stations had shown that the pipeline would run close to a possible church and associated burial ground. As a result the route was altered and moved further east, away from the recorded location of the church site. However, as no traces of the site existed aboveground and the full extent of the church and possible graveyard were unknown, it was decided to undertake a programme of trial-trenching along the revised route of the pipeline.
Three trial-trenches, measuring 85–150m, were opened up using a mechanical digger fitted with a flat toothless bucket. All three trenches ran north-east/south-west, running parallel to one another within the 15m corridor of the pipeline route. The topsoil was removed to the underlying natural subsoil, a yellowy-orange sandy clay, found at a depth of between 0.15 and 0.4m. There were a number of possible archaeological features noted, mainly long linear features and a modern field drain. There was no trace of the church site or any associated features and it is likely that the site lies further beyond the pipeline route. The features that had been recorded are to be fully examined and resolved if impacted on during the mainline stripping for the new pipeline.
