2014:448 - CORK: Elizabeth Fort, Cork

Ministerial Consent was granted for minor works at Elizabeth Fort to facilitate visitor access and to enhance visitor experience. The majority of the works have not occurred and are currently postponed. Monitoring of two trenches occurred on 26 August 2014. The trenches were excavated to facilitate the installation of display pieces. They were located in the gravel area north of the fort entrance, to the east of the steps to the north-east bastion. This area lies outside the original 1626 fort. The fort was extended to include this area in the 19th century. Trench 1 measured 1.2m east-west x 1.4m and was excavated to a maximum depth of 0.3m. Trench 2 measured 1.1m east-west x 1.25m and was also excavated to a maximum of 0.35m. The stratigraphy in both trenches was the same and consisted of mixed brown-pink rubble material with some sand. This appeared to be re-deposited material from works carried out in the recent past; there was extensive restoration work undertaken in Elizabeth Fort 2000-2006. No archaeological features or finds were recorded.