2013:606 - Heroes of the Great Siege Museum, 13 Society Street, Derry, Derry

An archaeological evaluation was carried out prior to the proposed construction of a Museum and Visitor Centre adjacent to the Apprentice Boys of Derry Memorial Hall at 13, Society Street, Derry City.
The test pits, inspection pits and boreholes excavated on site revealed that the site had recently been remodelled into a courtyard. The present cobbles and stone slab surfaces were laid above a layer of sand and cobbles which extended across the entire site. This sand/cobble layer appeared to have been used to build up the ground level of the present site and did not
represent a previous surface layer. The sand/cobble layer did seal a possible archaeological layer, which was uncovered in the centre/north of the site in IP01, IP02, IP05, TP01 and BH02. Excavation of this layer of black silty clay was halted in the inspection and test pits, but BH02, which was bored down approximately 5m below the present ground surface, showed the layer was approximately 1.15m deep. No archaeology was present in IP03, IP04, IP08, BH01, BH03 and BH04.
Three small excavations took place in the car park directly to the east of the site (IP06, IP07 and TP02). All 3 of these test pits contained an archaeological layer. IP07 also contained a bank of refuse material with approximately 25% ceramic bottles.
An archaeological layer was uncovered during the excavation of the inspection pits, test pits and in BH02 with the possibility that further archaeology could be sealed by this deposit. It will be necessary to resolve the archaeology present on the site prior to the proposed development commencing.

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