County: Wexford Site name: GRANGE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 11E314
Author: Emmet Stafford
Site type: Various
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 698154m, N 605944m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.196158, -6.563312
Testing of the proposed site of four houses at Grange, Kilmore, was undertaken during September 2011. The site is located immediately to the west of WX052-002, a church and graveyard.
A Cambridge University aerial photograph of the site (CUCAP AVK 66), which was taken in 1968, suggests that a circular enclosure, defined by an earth-cut ditch, once enclosed the church and graveyard. The enclosure, which may have been bivallate, appears to extend into the proposed development site as a roughly north–south-aligned curvilinear feature.
The excavation of a series of thirteen test trenches within the area of proposed construction impact uncovered a series of features of various dates.
The enclosing ditch associated with the adjacent church and graveyard site, previously known only from aerial photography, was located. A total length of c. 57m of the 3m-wide feature was uncovered at a maximum, internal, distance of 23m from the existing boundary wall of the graveyard.
A series of three substantial parallel ditches were uncovered running roughly west-south-west/east-north-east in the northern half of the site. These ditches may be the remnants of a field system of archaeological date and may be associated with a south-south-east/north-north-west-running ditch to their west.
Two substantial but shallow deposits uncovered in the north-western and south-eastern corners of the area investigated are of unknown function but are of probable prehistoric date. It is possible that the depressions which these deposits filled were originally excavated as gravel/flint-extraction pits.
Three linear features uncovered toward the centre of the site had no identified physical relationship with each other but did display similar morphology, suggesting that they might be related; they formed a semicircular or penannular arrangement.
Three areas of possible in situ burning uncovered toward the centre of the site are likely to be of archaeological date.
A small ploughed-out burnt mound was uncovered toward the eastern edge of the area investigated.
A variety of other linear and rounded features containing charcoal-flecked soil and abraded archaeological artefacts were uncovered across the site and were particularly concentrated in the northern half of the area tested. The fact that this site remained unenclosed until the late 19th century would suggest that many of these features are likely to be of archaeological rather than post-medieval date.
A number of surface finds, mostly of struck flint, were recovered from the ploughsoil/subsoil interface throughout the site, particularly in the northern half of the area tested.
Stafford McLoughlin Archaeology, Park, Bree, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford
