2006:405 - Bridge End Road, Coagh, Derry

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Derry Site name: Bridge End Road, Coagh

Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/05/115

Author: Martin Keery, Gahan & Long Ltd, 7–9 Castlereagh Street, Belfast, BT5 4NE.

Site type: Various

Period/Dating:

ITM: E 644242m, N 916776m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.996612, -7.308575

The site was located off the Bridge End Road, on the outskirts of Coagh, and was overlooked by the nearby Church of Ireland. The majority of the development site incorporated a long, narrow, rectilinear field which slopes quite sharply from the north-east down to the south-west. Testing and excavation on this site took place in September 2005. The testing revealed the remains of a possible structure with associated Neolithic flint and a series of boundary ditches.
A curvilinear ditch was uncovered in Trench 2. The ditch was in a tight arc making it unlikely to be part a large structure. The fact that it was located on the side of a slope also makes it unlikely to be used for human occupation. This ditch truncated a terminal pit in the south-east. The pit had a diameter of 1.1m and was 0.72m deep and contained abundant fragments of struck flint. The ditch also truncated a circular post-hole located in the north. It was 0.16m in diameter and was 0.35m deep. It contained a single fill of grey clay with occasional charcoal flecking and flint.
A large boundary ditch in Trench 2 continued through into Trench 1. It extended north-east/south-west and had a maximum width of 2.75m. It was 0.42m deep and contained a mixture of silty sands and sandy clay fills. The angle of alignment made it unlikely to be the boundary ditch for the upstanding church. No artefacts were recovered from this feature which could assist in dating.
Three intercutting ditches were located in the centre of Trench 2. The earliest feature was a V-shaped ditch which extended east–west. It was 0.5m wide and had a maximum depth of 0.48m. This feature was truncated by another linear ditch which was also orientated east–west. It had a maximum width of 1m and a depth of 0.4m. These two ditches had the same alignment though they were slightly intercutting. It is possible that the second ditch was a recut and served the same purpose as the first. Both of these ditches were cut by a third ditch which was orientated north-east/south-west. Only the terminal of this feature was exposed during testing, the remainder extended into the west baulk of Trench 2. It was 0.32m wide and had a maximum depth of 0.3m.
A further two intercutting linear ditches were present in the centre of Trench 1. The earliest was V-shaped and extended north-west/south-east. It had a maximum width of 0.8m and was 0.45m deep. It was cut by a later ditch which was orientated east–west. It had a maximum depth of 1.26m and was 0.3m deep.
The final boundary ditch was uncovered in the north of Trench 1. This was a large shallow ditch that appeared at the very top of the trench before leaving the development area in the north and the west. It was orientated north-east/south-west and was 2.75m wide. It had a maximum depth of 0.42m.

Editor’s note: Although this licence was issued during 2005, the report on the work was not received in time for inclusion in the bulletin of that year.