2010:159 - First Derry Presbyterian Church, Derry, Derry

Renovations are currently ongoing at First Derry Presbyterian church. The Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, Queen’s University, Belfast, was asked by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency to use the opportunity provided by these renovations to carry out an evaluation excavation at the church. Two trenches, measuring approximately 2m by 2m, were excavated in two holes in the floorboards which had been opened for the placement of temporary roof supports. First Derry Presbyterian Church is located in central Derry along Magazine Street Upper, at the west side of the walled city, at an OD of approximately 25m. The walled city occupies a portion of the ‘Island’ of Derry. In 1672 a Presbyterian meeting-house seems to have been constructed on Magazine Street, possibly on or close to the site of the later First Presbyterian Church. This church may have been suppressed but in 1690 the First Derry Presbyterian Church was constructed on Magazine Street Upper, with the assistance of a grant from Queen Mary in recognition of the bravery of the townsfolk displayed during the siege. This church was rebuilt in 1780 and repaired in 1828, at a cost of £700, when a new façade was added to the structure. Further restoration work was carried out in 1896 by Pinkerton and again in 1903, when Pinkerton oversaw further work on the church façade.
Trench 1
This trench measured 2.3m by 1.8m. After clearing away a mix of earth and building rubble, the presence of a mortared stone wall was detected running north-east to south-west across the trench. It was approximately 0.7m wide and 0.4m deep, with five courses of thin cut-stone blocks surviving. It was decided to leave this wall undisturbed because it was under no direct threat from the church renovations and because it was feared that disturbing the wall might undermine any floor joist supports still based upon it and lead to subsidence of the floor. Because of the decision to leave this wall in situ, further excavations were confined to the north-western half of this trench. The stone wall rested upon a dark-brown loam which contained brick and mortar chunks, some fragments of charcoal and was approximately 0.25m thick. Artifacts found in this layer included oyster shell, animal bone and one fragment of Staffordshire trailed slipware, which dates to the late 17th to early 18th centuries. This upper loam was situated above a similar dark-brown loam which is distinguished by the absence of building rubble within it and which was 0.17m deep. To the north side of the trench these two layers were separated by a thin spread of mortar which was up to 0.1m thick and was probably indicative of a phase of construction activity when mortar was dropped from the trowels of stone masons. A clay-pipe bowl dating to the latter half of the 17th century was found within this mortar spread.
Within this building debris-free loam a skull was found, which protruded from the section across the centre of the site. This skull ran under the wall which was being left intact and consequently it was both unnecessary and impractical to attempt to excavate it and any attached human remains. It seems likely, however, from the way it was situated that it belonged to a more extensive, possibly fully articulated skeleton, probably in the supine, extended position and orientated approximately west to east.
Artifacts from this layer included fragments of three clay-pipe bowls and a fourth complete pipe bowl, all mid- to late 17th-century in date; several fragments of clay-pipe stems, one fragment of possible Westerwald stoneware, two sherds of tin-glazed earthenware, Carrickfergus brownware and Staffordshire manganese mottled ware were also found. Beneath the dark-brown loam were a further 0.32m of increasingly sandy and artifact-free layers, save a number of mortar chunks, until the subsoil was reached. While cleaning the north section of this trench a second set of articulated human remains was detected projecting slightly from the section. These were sitting at a stratigraphically, and physically (0.3m), lower level than the previously observed skull, although it is possible that there may have been little time lapse between these two burials. As these human remains were almost completely outside the area of excavation, they were not subjected to further excavation after their initial discovery. The excavation did not test the subsoil at the site; given the size of the trenches, the excavation at Trench 1 was approaching the limit of a safe working depth by the end of the dig. As further excavation of this trench was not possible, recording was completed and the trench backfilled at this stage.
Trench 2
This trench measured approximately 2.4m by 2.1m. Immediately upon clearing off the topsoil and rubble, a mortared wall was exposed. This wall appears to have been a continuation of the wall found in Trench 1. To the east side of the wall there was a brown loam layer which was very similar to the upper brown loam layer in Trench 1. It was partially covered by a patchy mortar deposit which butted the wall and may be associated with its construction. Because of the confined working space to the east of the wall, excavation was paused at that side of the trench. To the west of the wall under the rubble and topsoil mix was the mortar spread also found to the east above a brown loam deposit, which was essentially the same layer as the upper loam at the east side of the trench. This layer contained a number of fragments of bone, probably mostly animal bone but some fragments of which may potentially be human. Three pieces of Carrickfergus brownware, which dates from the late 17th to early 18th centuries, were found in this layer, as were two clay-pipe stems of uncertain date. When this loam was removed, a stone setting was encountered composed of small elongated shale blocks laid recumbently on their narrow edge and mortared into place. The setting had a camber and dropped off slightly towards the north-west. To the east side the setting had been truncated by the wall which cut it.
The southern half of this stone setting was removed. Beneath it was a dark-grey/brown silty loam, which was similar to the rubble-free loam in Trench 1. As this layer was being excavated, human remains were encountered. The remains were the articulated left side of the lower two-thirds of a person, orientated south-south-west to north-north-east. Since these remains were not at risk of destruction during the church renovations, it was decided that it was both ethically and archaeologically preferable that they be left in situ. As it was not possible to dig further in this trench without disturbing the remains, excavation was paused at this stage, recording completed and the trench backfilled.
The lower loam surrounding the human remains contained a rich variety of artefacts. Carrickfergus brownware, Staffordshire trailed slipware and tin-glazed earthenware pottery sherds, all of which date to the late 17th to early 18th centuries, were uncovered, as well as 21 clay pipe stem fragments, pieces of roof tile and brick fragments of uncertain date. One piece of North Devon gravel-free pottery, which dates to the early 17th century, was also found in this layer.
The archaeological features and strata uncovered in both Trenches 1 and Trench 2 are similar. Immediately beneath a rubble topsoil, a mortared stone wall was uncovered running approximately north-east to south-west in both trenches. This wall was situated above brown loam layers which contained within them evidence for the burials of three individuals. It is likely that the burials were contemporary or near contemporary. The artefacts collectively show the strata beneath the stone wall to have built up in the latter half of the 17th century, most probably the 1660s to 1680s. This suggests that the wall dates to, or immediately after, this period. It is possible that this wall therefore is part of the earliest incarnation of the First Derry Presbyterian Church at this site, whose construction commenced in 1690. The date of the burials at the site, which cut through these late 17th-century strata, suggests that these burials must also date to that time period. It is not impossible that these burials are simply normal burials, perhaps the continuation of a tradition of burial in the vicinity of the nearby St Augustine’s Church, with its monastic ancestry. However, it is also possible that these burials are not typical burials in a recognised burial-ground or churchyard. The aberrant orientation of the skeleton from Trench 2, which is close to south–north, suggests that it may have been a less formal burial than was usual. This raises the possibility that it, and the burials surrounding it, may not have been formal burials within a graveyard but hurried burials in a convenient location. Given the history of 17th-century Derry and the artefactual collection which seems to point at a date in the 1660s to 1680s, it seems reasonable to suggest that the burials may possibly date to the Siege of Derry.