2008:431 - Bio-Science Centre, Trinity College, Pearse Street, Dublin, Dublin

This assessment was undertaken on 19–20 May 2008 on behalf of Trinity College Dublin on foot of a condition from An Bord Pleanála regarding a development bounded by Pearse Street to the north, Cumberland Street South to the west, the elevated permanent way to the south and Sandwith Street to the east, an area located historically on the very eastern edge of the city, until its urban development in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Seven trenches were opened mechanically; an eighth trench close to Cumberland Street was not opened due to electrical cables in the vicinity. The subsoil was generally located between a depth of 3.2–3.8m, which was in turn sealed by a deposition of silty sand which extended all over the site, increasing in depth to the east towards Sandwith Street. The material above this generally consisted of dump deposits comprising demolition debris and some domestic refuse within a soil matrix. Where cellars were encountered, they were backfilled with lose demolition material. In most cases, the masonry remains of the foundations of 19th-century industrial structures were located (including the base of the chimney stack associated with a sawmill, first depicted on the 1864 OS revision).
The general sandy silt deposit can be interpreted as the old shoreline, as depicted on Bernard de Gomme’s map of 1673, with water-introduced silts coming in over the relatively level subsoil. A slight rise in the level across the site, following a gentle curve reflecting that of Sandwith Street, possibly indicates the presence of a bar at this point or perhaps the remains of a bank constructed as a flood-relief measure. The evidence for vegetation and the slightly more organic deposits to the west suggests a creek running across the sands towards the river.
This material was consolidated for development purposes, probably towards the start of the 18th century and reclaimed with depositions of demolition rubble and other refuse material. This was the most common form of reclamation throughout the period and has been recorded by the writer as far west as the junction of Liffey Street and Abbey Street on the north side of the river.
The industrial nature of the site’s development does not come out in the excavated evidence. With the exception of the chimneystack base located in Trench 5 and the various structures recorded in Trenches 1 and 7, there was little evidence recorded for the industrial activities associated with the sawmills on-site in 1864.