2013:014 - Ballincollig, Cork

Monitoring of ground works was undertaken during the creation of a garden allotment park in the environs of Ballincollig Gunpowder Mills, a national monument in local authority ownership. There are no recorded archaeological features within the development area, which comprises a green field site in the lands between the finishing and refining areas of the mill complex. The ground reduction works were preceded by a licensed metal-detecting survey (R330) of the area to be impacted by the plots and footpaths. A wide range of modern metallic inclusions were noted in the south end of the site in close vicinity to a number of modern construction sites. A thin sod layer directly overlying a gravel-rich subsoil was revealed during monitoring which, in conjunction with the modern inclusions, suggested that the ground levels on the site had been reduced in recent decades. The only notable feature uncovered was section of a 2m wide stone track of unknown date on the line of a proposed path in the north-west end of the site. There are no structures or access features shown in this area on the consulted historic OS maps. The track will be preserved in situ and will not be impacted by the proposed development. The future works at the allotment site will entail the introduction of topsoil to raise the ground levels with cultivatable soil and no further excavation works will be required.

West Point Trade Centre, Ballincollig, Cork