2008:991 - Townparks South, Trim, Meath

An assessment was carried out on 3 and 4 July 2008 in Trim in Co. Meath, on behalf of Trim Town Council in advance of the proposed development of a playground. The site was located in the ‘Porch Field’. This is a large field on the northern bank of the River Boyne which was later subdivided. This field was truncated by the construction of the ring road. The field lies between the medieval Sheep Gate of Trim and the cathedral settlement and borough at Newtown Trim. The field contains a ridge and furrow field system and a hollow way which may be of medieval date (ME048–054).
A close contoured survey using a GPS system was carried out of the furrows prior to the test-trenching. Five trenches were subsequently excavated by a machine using a 1m-wide flat bucket. The trenches were each c. 1m wide and ranging from 28–40m in length. Four of the trenches were orientated north-west/south-east while the fifth was orientated north-east/south-west. Seven archaeological features were noted within these trenches, six of which were furrows which contained clay pipe and pottery of 18th–19th-century date, the seventh feature was a small post-medieval gully. The evidence suggests that the ridge and furrow system visible in the field is post-medieval in date contrary to the existing received opinion.