2012:460 - Old Fire Station, Carrick Street, Kells, Meath

est excavation was carried out on the site of a proposed housing development at the old Fire Station, which lies within the area of the walled town. Six trenches were mechanically excavated and these revealed cobbled surfaces and a basement structure of 18th/19th-century date, as well as a pit/ditch of unconfirmed date.
Trench 1 was located in the garden area at the northern end of the site. It measured 4.5m north-east/south-west by 0.8m and revealed 0.6m of modern fill overlying garden soil and a deposit containing post-medieval pottery and brick. Subsoil was exposed at 1.7m. Trench 2 was located in the laneway to the north of the Fire Station and east of the workshop. It measured 8.4m long and a cobbled surface was revealed 0.45m below present ground. This surface was cut by a drainage pipe. Trench 3 was located on the eastern side of the site and measured 13.1m north-south. A cobbled surface was uncovered at the southern end of the trench 0.08m below present ground. Two stone drains were uncovered along the length of the trench. These drains were cut into subsoil at a depth of 0.8m. Also cut into subsoil was a pit/ditch that extended beyond the edges of the trench. This cut was 0.4m wide and its base lay 1.6m below present ground. There were no finds to indicate the date of this feature which contained fragments of animal bone and mortar. Trench 4 was located inside the Fire Station and measured 2.4m long. A cobbled surface was revealed at a depth of 0.75m. The cobbles were bedded on redeposited subsoil that sealed a moist stony deposit that may be a continuation of the drainage feature uncovered in Trench 3. Trench 5 was located at the western side of the site and revealed two masonry walls and a brick floor. The tops of these walls lay 0.25m below ground level and both walls were built on the brick floor that lay at 1.25m. The east-west wall had a mortar render on its northern face. It was abutted by the north-south wall. The cobbled surface was also present in this trench. Trench 6 was located to the south of the Fire Station, against the wall of the adjoining property and measured c. 1.2m by 1.1m. The trench was 0.7m deep and revealed modern rubble overlying subsoil.

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