2012:174 - Church Street and environs, Downpatrick, Down

The development consisted of the upgrading of the sewage network within the north extent of Downpatrick around Church Street including a new pumping station at Drumcloon Way and the laying of gravity sewers and a storm pumping main in Church Street. The storm pumping main continued to the north-west of the town to join an existing storm pumping main located in Well Lane.

The area of the sewage scheme was located within an area of archaeological potential associated with the historic settlement of Downpatrick with the line of the scheme passing close to the locations of the medieval churches of St Margaret’s (DOW037-086) and St Brigid (DOW037-099), and a nunnery (DOW037-103). It also passed over the line of a 19th-century embankment (MRD 224:002) and may have impacted upon another (MRD 224:001) which run across former tidal marsh within the north extent of the scheme.

Monitoring of groundworks was carried out with special vigilance paid in areas adjacent to known archaeological sites. Additionally, NIEA: Historic Monuments Unit required that especial vigilance be paid to the embankments in order to try and establish a date/sequence for their construction, and Marsh and Well Lanes. In the event, the storm pumping main did not impact upon the embankment MRD 224:001 or Marsh Lane while the groundworks on Pump Lane simply involved the tying the storm pumping main into an existing pipeline.

Monitoring of groundworks revealed that the area around Church Street had been significantly disturbed by modern activity including services, road improvements and deliberate infilling to raise ground levels in areas of former peat bog. Excavation across the line of the embankment MRD 224:002 revealed that this feature has been removed within the field where the groundworks took place. A tooth from a modern bulldozer was recovered from spoil within the vicinity of the former embankment which suggested that this feature was levelled sometime within the last 20 years.

No archaeological features or deposits were uncovered during monitoring of groundworks. However, original material in the form of peat and gravel layers was exposed at depths of approximately 3m below the current ground level. Seven pieces of timber were recovered from these peat and gravel layers with the majority of these recovered from the bucket of the back-acting excavator. They largely appeared to represent the remains of pegs and round posts recovered from layers that have been sealed by 19th- and 20th-century activity.

Two pieces of wood were constructed from rectangular pieces of oak suggesting they are relatively modern. The first piece exhibited a tapered point and mortice hole which suggested that it was originally part of a larger structure. However, no other pieces of wood were recovered in the vicinity. Similarly, the second rectangular timber was exposed lying on its side within the gravel. This suggested that these timbers were not found in situ and had been either deliberately or accidently discarded prior to the ground being raised with fill material.

It was noted that the remaining timbers were recovered from an area shown as agricultural ground on maps dating to the 18th century and none appeared to relate to larger structures. As such, it is likely that the pegs and round posts may have been agricultural in nature and were truncated by the levelling material added during the 19th/20th centuries.

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