2007:509 - DUBLIN: Provost’s Stables, Trinity College, Dublin

The Provost’s Stables, yard and garden, attached to the Provost’s House (No. 1 Grafton Street) in Trinity College, Dublin 2, is located in the extreme south-west corner of the college complex, backing on to Nassau Street. The stable complex (protected structure) and garden have been renovated as a research facility and a monitoring programme was carried out between April and May 2007. This work revealed a series of earlier house foundations, which can be related to a range of buildings that originally fronted on to Nassau Street in the 18th century. By 1867 Nassau Street had been widened considerably and the main elements of these buildings now lie under the street. St Patrick’s well, DU018–060, is located in the south-east corner of the adjoining garden on the east, within an arched chamber, which extends under Nassau Street. The chamber is of limestone and brick and there are steps leading down to the circular stone-lined well. The well is still full of water and there is a holy water font (0.2m wide) built into the southern wall at head height.

The site is located some distance from the monastic complex of the Priory of All Hallows, which originally occupied the eastern side of Parliament Square (Front Square); the subsequent college quadrangle, established in 1592, was also located in this area. Rocque’s map, dated 1756, records the site before the Provost’s House was built in 1761. At this date, the house site was a large formal geometric garden, orientated north–south. However, the site of the stable block and garden is depicted as an enclosed yard, which has at least two non-domestic buildings (shaded rather than dotted), suggesting an industrial function. The yard was enclosed by a wall and was accessed through the rear of three domestic houses (dotted) that originally fronted on to Nassau Street. These houses were bordered on the east by what appeared to be another yard, occupied by four non-domestic buildings and a further two domestic buildings on the eastern side. It is not known if the houses depicted as fronting on to Nassau Street belonged to the college, but they may represent later infill buildings as they extend beyond the college limit on the western side, originally projecting on to Grafton Street. All the buildings in the yard were demolished by the mid-19th century and the new stable block and carriage house was constructed. This was designed by Frederick Darley in 1841 and constructed between 1842 and 1844. Although out of commission for some time, the stable blocks survived relatively intact, with many original fittings, including the stalls, stall dividers and mangers.

The stable complex
The stable building/carriage house consists of a long rectangular block measuring internally 31m east–west by 5.5m wide and standing two storeys high. This was retained in the new development. The western end was the carriage house, while the eastern end was the ostler’s quarters, with a fireplace and staircase leading to the first floor. The ground-floor central block was divided into five stables and was floored with large limestone flags set tightly together. Although the original stone flooring was retained in the new building, it had to be lifted first to install an underground heating system (Area 1). This exposed a layer of demolition debris composed of crushed rubble and brick, 0.4m in depth, which extended across the building and was evidently used as an infill deposit when the stable complex was built. This had to be excavated to a depth of 0.9m, which exposed the earlier house foundations.

A second smaller excavated area (Area 2) was monitored to the east of the stable building, within a small outhouse, where a ramp was built to connect the new build with the entrance to the college at Nassau Street.

Area 1: Levels 1–5
A total of five levels of activity were identified, dating from the late 17th to the 19th century, in rooms numbered 1–5. Level 1 was represented by the remains of two truncated limestone walls, while Level 2 involved the construction of a curving limestone drain, F7. Level 3 was represented by the buildings that are depicted on Rocque’s map in 1756. This included a well-preserved latrine in an area that was originally within a small yard, which is depicted on the OS map of 1847. This yard was flanked by a block on the west (Block A) and this was identified during the excavation, orientated north-west/south-east, and at a slightly different orientation to the stable block, which is orientated east–west. Block B was positioned 2.5m further south, while Block C returned to the north in a large square projection. Block D consisted of a large kitchen at basement level and this was indicated by the presence of a substantial limestone fireplace (F18), orientated east–west, on the eastern wall, which had been modified several times. In Level 5 all the buildings were demolished and the new stable block F11 was constructed in the mid-19th century. The new block was orientated slightly differently (east–west), probably because Nassau Street had been widened by this time. The old buildings were demolished to the existing ground level and c. 0.4m of the demolition rubble was dumped over the remains. However, several existing walls were used as foundations.

Area 2
The second area was within an outhouse at the eastern end of the site and an access was created through into the garden on the eastern side. The floor was lowered by c. 0.3m and three walls and a drain were located. The walls are not depicted by Rocque but the type and orientation suggests that they probably can be related to development in the 18th century that took place after 1756, perhaps connected with the construction of the Provost’s House in 1761. The cartographic sources suggest that there was a building in this location in 1837 and one of the walls (F21) and the drain can probably be related to this. They were subsequently demolished when the present outhouse was constructed as part of the stable complex renovation between 1842 and 1844.

Conclusions
The excavations revealed the footprint of the buildings identified in the cartographic sources in an area that Rocque’s map (1756) reveals was intensively inhabited by a series of domestic and industrial buildings that fronted out on to Nassau Street. The main cartographic constant is the line of Nassau Street, as this area was infilled in the late 17th century resulting in the significant drop in the ground level from the street into the precinct of Trinity College. It is unlikely, therefore, that the southern boundary of the college along Nassau Street, east of the Arts block entrance, has been altered much. However, the western end was altered considerably by the widening of the street and the demolition of the domestic buildings as represented on the OS map of 1867. Attempts to superimpose Rocque’s map on the OS map are not successful, mainly because of problems with the orientation, which is slightly skewed by Rocque.

The OS map of 1836 suggests a conglomeration of buildings in this location and these are probably to incorporate the remains of the Rocque buildings. The main domestic houses lay south of the site under discussion, but the back walls can be identified. The fireplace was probably located in one of the smaller industrial buildings shown by Rocque. The blocks at the rear of the buildings on the 1836 map can also be identified, the excavation establishing that they were 18th-century in date. The new stable, built in the mid-19th century, resulted in the wholesale demolition of the earlier block and a shift in the college boundary to the north to widen Nassau Street. However, despite the fact that the new building reflected the new orientation of Nassau Street, some of the walls were still founded on the earlier remains.

Although a large number of features were located, the lower levels were left in situ as efforts were made to realign the new pipes within the existing space. The fireplace was carefully sealed and protected and then backfilled with the original rubble deposit, which was then mechanically compacted. After this, the entire structure was sealed and the original slab floor was relaid. The position of the fireplace was recorded by CAD survey in the event that it needs to be accurately relocated for display purposes.

27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2