County: Antrim Site name: Scotch Quarter, Carrickfergus
Sites and Monuments Record No.: - Licence number: AE/06/77
Author: Chris Long, Gahan & Long Ltd, 7–9 Castlereagh Street, Belfast, BT5 4NE.
Site type: Urban medieval, post-medieval
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 741726m, N 887765m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.717964, -5.800149
Prior to construction commencing, a series of test-trenches were mechanically excavated across the development area. The trenches revealed evidence of subsurface archaeological strata.
A layer of medieval archaeology was identified directly overlying naturally occurring subsoil, which in this area consisted of an orangey-pink clay. A large amount of medieval pottery dated to the 13th and 14th centuries was recovered from this horizon. A single small pit was sealed by this layer. The layer covered the entirety of the excavation area, except where it was cut through by later features. A series of boundary ditches were present on the site, which probably marked out property lines of the houses and are likely to have been post-medieval in date. Towards the centre of the site a group of thirteen large wooden boxes, possibly tanning pits, were uncovered. They were all identically constructed and placed in a large trench cut. A series of other pits were also present on the site, mostly dating to the 18th–19th century.
