County: Kilkenny Site name: MARSH’S STREET, THOMASTOWN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 28:40 Licence number: 05E0757
Author: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil, Kilkenny Archaeology, Threecastles, Kilkenny.
Site type: Urban medieval
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 658345m, N 641866m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.525036, -7.140188
An impact assessment of a proposed playground development was requested. The site lies within the zone of archaeological constraint for the medieval town. It is positioned immediately inside the south-west line of the town wall. The Urban Archaeology Survey notes: ‘Stretches of the town wall survive on the south-western side of the town from the river up to Mill View House. In places the wall is up to 1.15m wide and 1.45m high . . . the wall continues up to the high ground west of the town, to the front of Mill View House, but is not traceable beyond this point. Where it ends there is a small tower which seems to be a dovecote rather than a part of the town defences’ (UAS 1993, 191). The western section of the proposed development area is bounded by a lime-mortar-bonded stone wall that may well be original town wall.
Three test-trenches were excavated across the proposed development area. The two closest to Marsh’s Street revealed a medieval ‘garden soil’ at a depth of c. 1m below present ground level. The layout and design of the playground was altered to avoid impacting on the archaeological deposit and the development proceeded under archaeological supervision. No further archaeological materials were found.
