2008:062 - A1 Scheme 1, Newry, Derrybeg – Site 16, Armagh

Excavation was carried out at Site 16 as part of the archaeological mitigation strategy for the A1 road improvement scheme, Beech Hill to Cloghogue, Carnbane, Co. Armagh. The closest recorded site is the Egyptian railway bridge located just to the south and to the west lies the present-day Newry railway station. Built in 1844, the Egyptian Arch (IAR62–87) is a notable historical landmark in the area, forming part of the Belfast to Dublin railway line, carrying it over the A25 Camlough Road. It will not be directly affected by the road scheme.
The area incorporated within this site boundary measured c. 100m north to south by 50m. The northern boundary of the site is delimited by the presence of the underpass and associated roundabout linking Newry town centre to the railway station, a drop of some 7m. The southern site boundary is determined by a small road leading west below the railway line, which runs along the western boundary of the site.
During monitoring a number of potential archaeological features were found. These features were subsequently investigated by manual cleaning leading to archaeological investigation. The investigations revealed that the features present were no earlier than mid- to late 19th century in date with some features providing dating evidence suggesting that they are contemporary with the construction of the original Newry bypass road, dating to sometime late in the 20th century. This dating evidence came in the form of partially degraded confectionery wrappers and detachable ring-pulls from tin cans.
There was a particular concentration of features of archaeological potential in a 20m by 10m area in the north-east corner of Site 16. This area incorporated a series of linear features running in a general west to east (downslope) direction. These features met a north-north-east to south-south-west-oriented stone-built feature (010). This feature measured c. 20m in length and continued below the edge of the strip to the north-north-east for an unknown distance. On the surface this feature measured c. 1–1.5m wide and tapered slightly towards the baulk to the north-north-east. Preliminary investigation suggested that this may have been a well-constructed souterrain and therefore merited further investigation. The construction of feature (010) comprised a stone-laid base, two drystone walls c. 0.4–0.5m in height, with large stone lintels overlying these. The whole structure was cut into subsoil to a depth of 0.6–0.8m, with width of cut measuring c. 2m. The internal dimensions varied along the 20m length of the feature, but it was c. 0.3m wide and 0.4–0.5m high.
A depth of silted soil was uncovered along the base of the structure, suggesting that it may in fact have been a large drain. Two sherds of white-glazed late 19th-century pottery were recovered from the basal silt layers; however, the nature of the deposit, washed in silt, indicated that it was an insecure context. No dating evidence could be securely retrieved from this material, so a small section of the stone was removed to recover possible dating evidence from the cut. While nothing was recovered from this section, it was noted that at this point the stone structure cut into two other features that were securely dated to the post-medieval period, and from which sherds of post-medieval brownware pottery were recovered. The stone structure (010) has been interpreted as a large elaborately constructed French drain dating to some time around the late 19th century or later.
The other linear features in this north-east area of the site were also proved to be no earlier than mid- to late 19th century in date, with some features dating to the time of construction of the current bypass.
After investigation of all features in Site 16, it was found that there were no archaeological features pre-dating the mid- to late 19th century.