2009:280 - DUBLIN ROAD, BALBRIGGAN, Dublin

Fingal County Council is planning to construct a new pumping station on the Dublin Road, Balbriggan, as part of the Balbriggan/Skerries WWTS network improvement contract. Due to the proximity of the proposed pumping station to DU005–050, the likely location of a medieval cornmill shown on the Down Survey of 1655, an assessment was necessary prior to any construction on the site. The proposed pumping station will be sited c. 165m south of the mill site and straddles the remains of the head race that supplied water to the 19th-century cornmill that occupies the site of the medieval mill. There are no standing remains of the medieval mill. Testing was carried out over the site on 16 December 2009.
Testing was to be carried out using four trench locations excavated in the immediate area of the proposed pumping station building. Three trenches were excavated through the western earthwork of the mill-race to assess its method of construction and antiquity. Topsoil cover averaged 0.3m in depth across the site. Excluding the physical remains of the mill-race, no features or deposits of archaeological origin were identified during the trenching exercise.