2013:019 - CROSSHAVEN: Camden Fort Meagher, Cork

Ministerial consent (C366) was granted for the installation of subsurface ducting and a new sewer line at Camden Fort Meagher, Crosshaven, Co. Cork. The site is a National Monument, comprised primarily of a 19th-century military fortification, on the site of a 17th-century fort. It is also listed on the Record of Protected Structures in Cork County Development Plan (RPS ID: 01010).Work was jointly funded by Cork County Council and Rescue Camden, a local community group operating out of Crosshaven.

Monitoring was carried out in a number of phases beginning in June 2012?. The present report summary covers monitoring carried out from October 2013 to February 2014 (phase 2 of works). Consent has been granted for further works on site, these are expected to be carried out within the next year.

The trench was, on average, 1.8m deep and 0.7m wide. It ran from the road outside the fort, through the fort entrance, along the main access road within the site, and along a narrow gap behind a range of buildings including the site office and coal stores. At this point it branched in two, with one section carrying the line past an old hand-ball alley and along an access road eastward towards the present tea rooms (former officers’ mess and billiard rooms). The other branch travelled westward to cross the parade ground of the military fortification, and up into the earthen ramparts. Tarmac and grass was removed onto a mixture of 19th-century garden layers and rubble fill layers. These were removed onto a layer of mid-brown soil over the yellow-brown stony-clay subsoil and shale like geological layers.

A large number of 18th/19th/20th-century culverts were uncovered during these works. These culverts were found to have been built from a wide range of materials; some were constructed of the local stone, some of a yellow clamp kiln brick, probably from local brick fields near Carrigaline, and some of a warmer cherry-red brick clay; these may be from a range of sources including nearby brick fields in Belvelly, Douglas or further afield in Youghal. No frogged or stamped bricks were found. The stone and yellow brick culverts may date to the 18th century, however a large number of the culverts were found to have been built with cement mortar and probably date to the late 19th-early 20th century.

A wide range of settlement tanks, soak ways and manholes were uncovered, many connected to the culvert system or clay pipes, and some still functional. These ranged in material from stone to yellow brick to red brick and presumably date to the same periods as the culverts. A large collection of finds was uncovered from a yellow brick cess pit located to the south of the present tearoom block. These finds included green and cream tissue-transfer wear and brown and cream slipware (of possible 18th-century date) as well as some Bristol glass. Some of the later manholes (20th-century) had to be replaced/upgraded to work within the present system, however the majority, including the above-mentioned brick-lined cess pit, remain in situ.

Four sections of stone walling were uncovered during works. These stone walls, all c. 1m wide and built of coursed rubble stone with thick sand-lime mortar and integral drainage holes, appear to have been designed as subterranean terrace-retention walls. There were two parallel walls found to the south of the present tea-rooms retaining the steepest slope on the site, one to the north of the coal shed block, and one to the east of the entrance guard rooms. These walls appear to have been built as a local response to the difficult slopes found on site. The fort is built on a very steep headland and it was necessary to back fill large areas to create level ground. These areas were built up with locally quarried loose rock and building rubble, with relatively little clay to hold them together. As such they were liable to collapse without these terrace retention walls. All walls remain in situ, however 0.2m was removed from the wider footings of the wall near to the entrance block to allow for the insertion of a tank in this area.

Further sections of the cement and brick foundations of an early-mid 20th-century wall, were uncovered on the parade ground (as detailed in earlier reports). Where possible these were left in situ and pipes tunnelled underneath, however one small section of wall (0.3m wide and 0.2m high located outside the gun shed) was damaged during works and had to be removed.

All spoil was spread, visually examined for loose finds, and metal detected. A number of finds including bottles, 20th-century ceramics and animal bones were identified. In addition a large number of metal remains were identified, including one bullet/ammunition case and fragments of architectural ironmongery. These stray finds relate to the use of the site as a military installation in the later 19th and early 20th centuries.