2011:154 - ORMEAU EMBANKMENT, BELFAST, Down

Monitoring of the removal of hard surface, foundations and level reduction was carried out. Subsoil depth varied but in general was around 1–1.25m below the original hard surface. The subsoil varied in nature across the site; it was more like beach sand in the east of the site, while further west it consisted of red clay overlain by patches of anaerobic blue clay. The subsoil was overlain by up to 1m of fill, comprising 19th- and possibly early 20th-century waste, garden soil and rubble. It appears that the ground level had been deliberately raised, possibly to stabilise a soft or wet area close to the river. The site had been further raised as part of the school’s construction. A hollow area in the north-eastern corner of the site had been filled with 19th-century rubbish to level the surface. It may be that this area related to the stream which appeared to flow across the site in the early editions of the local OS maps. In the north-western corner of the development, a large ceramic pipe, 18in. in diameter and running north-west to south-east, was uncovered at a depth of around 2m. This was probably installed to culvert the stream that ran across the site prior to the construction of the school. The original line of this stream may be represented by a line of hardcore which paralleled this feature some 10m to the south.

Nothing of an archaeological nature was uncovered during monitored stripping.

Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, Farset Enterprise Park, 638 Springfield Road, Belfast BT12 7DY