County: Derry Site name: 12 Walworth Road, Ballykelly
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LDY009–047 Licence number: AE/09/209
Author: Warren Bailie and David Kilner, Archaeological Development Services Ltd, Unit 6, 21 Old Channel Road, Belfast, BT3 9DE.
Site type: No archaeological significance
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 662230m, N 922648m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 55.047448, -7.026219
Archaeological evaluation of the proposed development site was undertaken on 5 January 2010. This site consists of a trapezoidal-shaped field which lies adjacent to No. 12 Walworth Road, Ballykelly near Limavady, Co. Derry. The proposed development is for the construction of a single dwelling and associated services.
There are no known sites from within the development area; however, there are eight archaeological sites lying within a 2km radius of the site, one of which, a bullaun stone (LDY009–047), has been recorded along the south boundary of the development. This led the NIEA to surmise that the stone could indicate the presence of an early ecclesiastical settlement within the vicinity, possibly within the boundaries of the proposed development. Therefore an assessment was recommended, which consisted of three north to south orientated test-trenches, each measuring 2m in width, which were excavated using a tracked back-acting machine with a smooth-edged bucket. The total length of the trenches excavated measured approximately 92.6m.
The evaluation revealed that the site had been extensively disturbed with drainage features and a water pipe. One large fragment of a schist millstone was recovered from the topsoil of Trench 3. This may be related to the former site of a flaxmill (IHR 1438:000:00) which was situated approximately 120m to the south-west. This site was first shown on the second-edition OS map sheet (1852) and then on the subsequent 1907 edition map sheet where it was labelled as disused.
No archaeological features were uncovered during the evaluation.
