County: Antrim Site name: BALLYRATAHAN UPPER
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: AE/12/63
Author: Peter Bowen
Site type: NO ARCHAEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 497727m, N 531940m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.530776, -9.474112
Testing was undertaken at a site at 250-252 Castlecatt Road, Dervock, Co. Antrim as part of the planning conditions for the proposed development. The site lies within the area of archaeological potential of Dervock and has six recorded archaeological sites within a 1km radius. The proposed development comprises new residential dwellings with associated car parking. A total of four test trenches were recommended to be excavated on the site. However, due to the presence of a stone building, recorded on the 1906 3rd Edition OS map, only two of the trenches could be investigated at this time. The remaining trenches will be investigated at a later date once this building has been removed.
Trench 1 measured 15.5m long south-west/north-east by 2m wide. This trench was excavated to subsoil with no archaeological deposits being uncovered. Trench 2 measured 17m long and was excavated in the area of the proposed car parking. Investigation of this trench revealed that there was an extensive deposit of modern fill up to 2m thick. As the formation level for the car park is to be no more than 0.5m below the current ground surface, the trench was not fully excavated to subsoil but taken to a depth of between 0.8-1.2m. Two test pits were dug at either end of the trench. In the northern test pit, subsoil was uncovered at a depth of 2.1m while at the south, subsoil was found at a depth of 1.5m. As this is well below the formation level, any archaeological deposits which may exist in situ elsewhere along the trench, below the modern fill, will not be impacted on by the construction of the car parking.
The stone building was also recorded both photographically and by measured drawings. It consists of two, one room, single storied cottages, with a pitched slate covered roof. Each cottage has a door along the northern wall with a single window on either side of each door.
No archaeological deposits were uncovered during the current phase of testing on the site.
Archaeological Development Services, 96 University Street, Belfast, BT7 1HE
