2007:216 - Mill Place, Bandon, Cork

Five test-trenches were excavated in advance of a proposed development at the site of a cornmill (CO110–019) on the north bank of the River Bandon in the north-west quadrant of Bandon town. The projected line of the 17th-century town wall runs immediately outside the western boundary of the development site. The town wall and its associated fortifications were partially demolished in 1689 and there are no surviving surface remains in the vicinity of the development site. There are historical references to milling at this site from the 17th century onwards and the site was extensively redeveloped in the 19th/20th centuries. The mill buildings were burned down in 1968 and the site was subsequently cleared and used as a County Council depot until recent years. The western half of the development site was reclaimed from the river after the mill was burned down.
The stratigraphy encountered in the reclaimed western half of the site consisted of thick deposits of backfilled rubble and soil containing frequent inclusions of modern materials, such as scrap metal, plastics, bottles and concrete slabs. These backfilled reclamation deposits directly overlay the natural glacial till, which was encountered at a depth of 2m below modern ground levels. There were no traces of the town wall encountered in this area of the site. Test-trenching in the area of the former mill building exposed the fragmented remains of concrete slab floors associated with modern upgrading works in the mill. The concrete floors sealed a 19th/20th-century rubble deposit and this overlay the natural glacial till, which was encountered at a depth of 1.4m below modern ground level. There were no archaeological features or finds recorded during test-trenching at this site.