2007:AD2 - Chichester Street Lower, Belfast, Antrim

Archaeological investigations were carried out between January and February 2007. Chichester Street is situated between Oxford Street to the east and Victoria Street to the west, in the heart of Belfast city centre. The area is bounded by the new law court building to the north and the old listed Royal Courts of Justice (HB26/50/180) to the south. At the western end of Lower Chichester Street lies the Petty Session’s Court (HB26/50/044). At the eastern end lay the remains of the old Oxford street bus station (IHR 10218:000:00). The site lay on the southern edge of the historic core of Belfast and is situated among the markets area in an area of archaeological potential.
Monitoring was carried out in areas that were to be disturbed by groundworks for drainage foundations, landscaping, etc. On average the depth of the groundwork was between 1.2m and 1.8m below the current ground surface. However, to accommodate the new water services pipe within Trench 1 the depth of the trench reached 2.5m below the current ground surface. The remainder of the groundworks were excavated down no further than 1.2m, which was within the dumped make-up layer.
Monitoring revealed a substantial, basalt-built, external wall foundation on which was constructed a red-brick wall. A series of internal red-brick partition walls were found in association. Based upon the size of the red bricks, and the ceramic finds recovered from the black occupation layer that sealed the red-brick floor, this building dates to no earlier than the 19th century. This archaeological evidence is supported by the cartographic evidence showing that Chichester Street and its immediate environs were not built upon till 1815, with the majority of the growth taking place post-1858. The internal layout of the building, with its evenly spaced out red-brick wall divisions, could suggest that this was once a warehouse or market building. It probably dates from after the 1860s when Lower Chichester Street came into existence and the growth of the surrounding market area. The dumped make-up layers found across the site suggest the site had been built up and levelled, possibly in the early to mid-20th century, for the building of the current law courts. This could account for the demolition of the building uncovered and the rubble found within the site.