2012:137 - THE GUILDHALL, SHIPQUAY PLACE, DERRY, Derry

The Guildhall building underwent extensive restoration works in 2012/13; part of these works was to create new basement levels in several areas of the building.

Monitoring of this development took place sporadically over a three-month period, due to the nature of the refurbishment site works could only be monitored as and when the ground reduction in particular areas was scheduled by the developer, hence they division of the site into four distinct areas. Within two of the areas (A and C) stone walls were uncovered. The wall in Area A was most likely from the first incarnation of the Guildhall building (built 1890), when the building was rebuilt and extended after the fire (1912), this wall was no longer needed. The walls uncovered in Area C also appear to be from the initial construction of the building as the dark organic fill surrounds the walls. These walls were most likely built to help stabilise this section of the building as the Guildhall was built on reclaimed land the bottom layers of which were still quite wet.

The artefacts recovered from the site consist of animal bone, post-medieval pottery, clay pipes, glass, leather shoe fragments, a fragment of possible human bone and some small thin metal pins. These artefacts appeared within the same few layers across the site and would suggest the fill was from a waste/refuse dump from the post-medieval period just prior to the building of the Guildhall. This soil was most likely brought to the site from elsewhere and used to 1) build up the ground level and 2) stabilise the foundations, which were built on reclaimed land very close to the edge of the River Foyle. The possible human bone is most likely a finger or toe bone, easily cut off accidentally and thrown away; the possible gold pins may have something to do with the garment or shoe making industries.

Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, Farset Enterprise Park, 638 Springfield Road, Belfast, T12 7DY