2006:411 - Bellevue Avenue and Maureen Avenue, Derry, Derry

Monitoring and excavation were undertaken on 8–10 November 2006 at the site of proposed development at lands between Bellevue Avenue and Maureen Avenue, Derry. Overlying deposits, which primarily consisted of the foundation levels of the Bellevue Shirt Factory, which previously occupied the site, varied in depth between 0.1m and 0.3m and their removal revealed natural subsoil, a light-orange/brown sand. Two shallow subsoil-cut pits were identified, located within the south-east portion of the site and extending over an area of 5m (east–west) by 3m. Excavation of the pits appeared to reveal evidence for some small-scale sand extraction activity at the site. Both of the features identified appear to have been deliberately backfilled with similar deposits, which may represent an old ground surface contemporaneous with the cutting of the pits. Preliminary analysis of the artefact evidence, which consists of sherds of post-medieval pottery and fragments of clay pipe, and the location of the two pits in close proximity to one another, would suggest that the pits are likely to be contemporaneous. The nature of the subsoil in this area and the form of the pits would suggest that their original function was for the extraction of sand.
Post-excavation works are currently being undertaken on the pottery assemblage recovered during excavation at the site to establish with greater certainty the date of the backfilling of the two pits.