2008:678 - Corban’s Lane, Naas, Kildare

The excavations at Corban’s Lane, Naas, were undertaken over a period of two years during the construction of a shopping centre. The groundworks associated with this development were monitored throughout and several features of archaeological interest were discovered. These included the remains of a large, rectangular medieval building with associated ditch and pits, a medieval limekiln with associated ditches and pits and a large medieval ditch running along the southern perimeter of the site.
The remains of what appears to be a high-status medieval building, measuring c. 17m in maximum length (north-east/south-west) by 5m in width, were identified in the northern portion of the site. This building was cut into the natural gravels and may represent the remains of a basement level. The interior was divided into three distinct areas. A rectilinear patch of compact clay with a centrally placed burnt patch set against the inner face of the western wall possibly denotes the location of an original fireplace. This was separated from the large central area by a line of small stones. An area at the eastern end was demarcated by the footings of a wall running across the width of the building. Large post-holes were located in the interior which probably contained wooden posts that may have served to support the roof.
A large number of finds were found within the interior of the building, including decorated floor tiles, ridge tiles, pottery, roof slates and iron blades. The size of the excavated remains, coupled with its associated finds and location in close proximity to St David’s Church and St David’s Castle, suggest that this to be a high-status building.
A series of intersecting pits and a ditch were excavated immediately adjacent to the remains of the medieval building. The ditch measured c. 50m in maximum length (north-east/south-west), 1.3m in average width (north–south) and ranged from 0.5 to 0.6m in maximum depth. It consisted of two intersecting U-shaped cuts and their respective fills. Both fills contained medieval pottery sherds; the lower, older fill contained two medieval floor tiles.
The remains of a substantial stone-lined limekiln, of probable medieval date, were also discovered in the eastern portion of the site. This structure was situated close to the base of a gentle south-facing slope and comprised a large, circular bowl with three linear flues extending out from the bottom of the bowl. On the basis of the stratigraphic evidence, it appears that construction of this feature initially involved the cutting of a large, irregularly shaped pit into the natural gravels. The maximum dimensions of this pit were 11.5m in length (east–west) by 6.4m in width and 1m in depth. Once excavated, a randomly coursed drystone wall composed of small- to medium-sized stones was built to define the perimeter of the kiln proper; this wall survived to a maximum height of about 1m in places. Apart from a very thin stratum of silty clay confined to the eastern flue, the primary fill of the kiln bowl comprised a slight spread of fire-reddened clay. This burnt clay, and, indeed, the highly compact layer of lime material (0.28m in maximum thickness) that overlay it, probably relate to the production of lime mortar. Finds from the kiln fills included pottery, floor tiles and animal bone.
A number of pits and series of shallow, overlapping ditches were located in the vicinity of the limekiln. As well as a number of pits situated immediately to the south of the kiln, three discrete groups of overlapping pits of varying shapes and sizes were excavated to the north of it. The ditches ran in a roughly east–west direction for a distance of some 35m just to the north of the kiln. The initial ditch cut measured about 0.65m in maximum width (north–south) and 0.6m in depth. The fill contained several sherds of medieval pottery and some disarticulated animal bone.
An east–west-orientated ditch ran along the southern site boundary, parallel and adjacent to Corban’s Lane. It was linear in plan measuring 4.68m in maximum width and 0.65m deep, and c. 100m in length. It continued beyond the site extents to the east and the west. It had a gradual break of slope with concave sides graduating to a rounded base and was excavated into the natural gravels. Finds from the fill included medieval and post-medieval pottery and animal bone. This ditch follows the conjectured line of the medieval defences as represented in the Urban Archaeology Survey (Bradley n.d.)