County: Meath Site name: Kennedy Road (Abbeyland South), Navan
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 12E271
Author: Donald Murphy
Site type: Medieval
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 686545m, N 767883m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.653550, -6.690804
The site of a proposed extension to a car park at Navan Credit Union Ltd, Kennedy Road, Navan, Co Meath was assessed on 13 August 2012. The testing was requested on foot of a planning application to Meath County Council. The site extends from Kennedy Road to Canon Row and consists of a long, modified burgage plot, running along the eastern side of the existing Credit Union property. The site lies outside the medieval walled town but in an area that has been shown by previous investigations to have potential for archaeological deposits. The site, which is currently overgrown, has been acquired by Navan Credit Union and is to be redeveloped for use as a car park.
A single test trench was excavated along the length of the property and consisted of 0.7-1.2m of garden soil above a grey/brown boulder clay. The shallow foundations of a modern wall crossed through the test trench from north-west to south-east about 30m from the Canon Row end and coincided with a wall marked on the 1912 edition of the OS map. A second wall was recorded heading north-east from this wall along the west side of the trench. It was a mortared stone wall with inclusions of red brick and may have been associated with garden walls shown at this location on the 1835 edition OS map.
The only feature of archaeological significance was a large pit, potentially with a diameter of 3m, which was exposed below the junction of the two walls at a depth of 0.9m. The pit contained animal bone and large charcoal fragments along with sherds of medieval pottery. Due to the restricted width of the site and the depth of the test trench and piled up spoil on either side, the feature could not be sectioned but from limited investigation along the edge, the pit could be up to 1m in depth. The pit will be preserved in situ below the new car park surface. No other archaeological features were exposed and boulder clay remained consistent throughout the remainder of the test trench. Monitoring of the removal of the topsoil from the site was recommended.
Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit, The Beeches, Sheetland Road, Termonfeckin, Drogheda, Co. Louth
