2016:484 - Killossery, Rowelstown, Fingal, Dublin

Archaeological investigation was undertaken in advance of development in Killossery, Rowelstown, Fingal, Co Dublin. 

Field 1

Trench Ia: The northernmost of the three trenches, south of the sewer line. It was dug from east to west. The sod layer overlay mid-brown silty soil. At 0.6m below the surface, this overlay hard, stony subsoil.

Trench Ib: To the south of Trench Ia. It was dug from east to west. The sod layer overlay mid-brown silty soil. At 0.6m below the surface, this overlay hard, stony subsoil.

Trench Ic: This was the southernmost of the three trenches – i.e. closest to the road. It was dug from east to west. The sod layer overlay mid-brown silty soil. At 0.6m below the surface, this overlay hard, stony subsoil. This became looser gravel about 10m from the eastern end. A linear feature was cut into this for about 3m, filled with the mid-brown soil from above. It was round-bottomed and about 0.2m deep and appeared to be an agricultural feature, probably quite recent. Beyond this, the subsoil was similar to that near the beginning of the trench. Near the western end of the cutting, a square or rectangular pit was found. It was filled with gravel and also modern refuse. A modern hose-type water pipe was also present.

Field 2

Trench IIa: This was the longest of the trenches in this field. It ran alongside the western boundary which, like the eastern boundary, had a stream flowing through it. Because of the trees and bushes forming part of the boundary, there were extensive roots growing through the soil here. A sod layer, 0.15m thick, overlay a deposit of silty mid-brown subsoil, more than 0.9m deep in places. About half way along the trench there was a band of gravelly soil at about 0.45m. This was within the deposit of silty mid-brown subsoil.

Trench IIb: Situated to the east of IIa and like it, dug from south to north. The sod layer overlay mid-brown silty soil overlying sticky grey clay which was 0.58m down. In places, this overlay grey, silty soil at about 0.7m.

Trench IIc: Situated to the east of IIb, dug from south to north. The sod layer overlay mid-brown silty soil. This was dug down to 0.5m. At the southern end, two bands of grey clay with a band of orange clay in between were encountered at 0.5m. These were still present at 0.75m. They were natural strata.

Trench IId: Situated to the east of IIc, dug from south to north. The sod layer overlay mid-brown silty soil. This was dug down to 0.5m. A French drain crossed the trench near the southern end. Closer to the southern end, a band of grey, stony, gravelly clay, a band of orange-grey stony clay and a band of blue-grey stony clay were encountered at 0.5m. These were natural strata similar to those in Trench IIIe.

Trench IIe: The easternmost trench in this field. The sod layer overlay mid-brown silty soil. This overlay a greenish-grey gravelly clay, at 0.37-0.5m. The French drain found in Trench IIId was also encountered here, one third of the way from the southern end. The water was flowing from the west, obviously to drain into the nearby boundary ditch.

Field 3

Trench IIIa: The sod layer overlay mid-brown silty soil to a depth of 0.5m below ground level. This overlay hard stony clay (stones 20-200mm across). In the northernmost 10m of the trench, this hard clay layer dipped down and was overlain by a layer of gravel. 

Trench IIIb: A short trench excavated to investigate further the gravel layer found at the north end of trenches IIIa and IIIc, which was clearly natural, but initially appeared to be a linear feature, perhaps a palaeochannel. This trench showed that it was, in fact, not linear, but a spread of gravel about 0.55m thick, overlying impervious clay, so that water flowed out of the gravel layer into the trench.

Trench IIIc: The sod layer overlay mid-brown silty soil to a depth of 0.4-0.5m below ground level. This overlay the same hard stony clay as was found in IIIa. This had a blotchy multi-coloured appearance because the stones were relatively soft and were cut through by the machine. At the northern end, it was overlain by the gravel also seen in IIIa-b.

Trench IIId: The sod layer overlay mid-brown silty soil to a depth of 0.4m below ground level. This overlay hard stony clay with a blotchy appearance. Again, a layer of gravel underlay the silty soil at the northern end.

Trench IIIe: The sod layer overlay mid-brown silty soil to a depth of 0.6m below ground level. This overlay the hard stony clay with a blotchy appearance, but half-way along the trench this shaded into light grey stony clay, reverting to the former after about 4m. At the northern end of the trench, the mid-brown silty soil continues down to 0.8m.

Trench IIIf: The sod layer overlay reddish-brown silty soil to a depth of 0.55m below ground level. This overlay the hard stony clay with a blotchy appearance.

Trench IIIg: This was a shorter trench, as the old mill stream cut off the south-eastern part of the field. The mid-brown soil was up to 1m deep here, at the higher southern end. This overlay the hard, stony, blotchy clay. A thin, shallow linear feature filled with the overlying yellow clay ran diagonally across the trench near the southern end. A small supplementary trench was dug at right angles to the main trench, eastwards to the boundary. Here the mid-brown, silty soil was 0.6m deep. The boundary here consists of a stream flowing between two banks. This was an ordinary field boundary until at least 1938; subsequently the water from the mill-stream was diverted along this line, so the current morphology is relatively recent. The stream flows between two banks. The bed of the stream is 0.8m below the level of the adjoining ground. The western bank is 3.4m wide and 1.5m high relative to the level of the field. The eastern bank was not measured but appeared to be of similar dimensions. The width of the stream at its base was about 1.2m.

Field 4

Trench IVa: The sod layer overlay mid-brown silty soil. This was more silty than the similar material in the other fields. About 7m from the eastern end, a few fragments of coal were found at a depth of 0.4m. A thin layer of gravel was found at 0.7m, but the silt continued under this. 14m from the eastern end, a line of stones crossed the trench at a depth of 0.45m. These stones continued down to 0.6m, where a modern plastic pipe was found, 80mm in diameter, with slits at regular intervals for drainage.

Trench IVb: The sod layer overlay mid-brown silty soil. For the most part, this in turn overlay grey clay with a blotchy appearance. Near the eastern end, however, a band of orange clay crossed the trench at a depth of 0.4m. Immediately to the east of this was a hollow filled with modern refuse. This may have been part of a shallow ditch forming part of the field boundary, rather than a pit. Half way along the trench, the ground immediately below the sod was very stony, but this was only about 0.2m thick; below this it was similar to the remainder of the trench.

Trench IVc: This trench began 5.5m west of the end of the stable block. The sod layer and mid-brown silty soil were the same as in the other trenches, and continued down to about 0.6m. At the eastern end of the trench, the silty soil overlay grey-brown clay. At 1.3-4m (running diagonally across the trench), this gave way to yellow clay into which two linear features were cut, 0.3m wide, running diagonally. These were filled with the brown silty soil from above and appeared to be agricultural features. At 5.4-8.3m from the eastern end, the yellow clay gave way to stony gravel. At 11.6m from the eastern end, the lower layer was orange clay. By 16.4m it was becoming yellow and here, three more narrow linear features, 0.38–0.55m, were cut into it – one diagonal and two perpendicular. These were very shallow (0.12m). 2.45m beyond this, the yellow clay gave way to greenish-grey clay. This was cut by thin band of gravel, 0.8m wide. It was also interrupted by an area of yellow clay cut by two parallel diagonal lines.

Trench IVd: Like Trench IVc, this displayed varying patches of undisturbed natural, with different textures and colours. Unlike IVc, however, there were no artificial linear features cut into it. The western half was consistently an orange-coloured clay. The eastern half, which rose up towards the boundary, variously comprised of brown and grey clay and a deposit of loose stones and gravel.

Trench IVe: This was a short trench cut through the western bank of the mill-race in the south-east corner of the field. It clearly showed that the bank had been built up on top of the old ground surface. The east face was steeper. The bank was 0.8m high relative to the ground surface, and 2.5m thick.

Trench IVf: This was a rectangle measuring 9m by 5m (minus one corner). The silty mid-brown soil was about 0.8m deep, and mostly overlay light green stony clay. It was crossed diagonally by a linear band of gravel 0.2m thick and 1.8m wide. This appeared artificial, but there was no indication of function or date.

Trench IVg: This trench ran eastwards from the south-west corner of the field. It had an overall length of 13.2m but consisted of two 2m-wide trenches side by side but offset by 8m. A deposit of loose, stony, gravelly soil was found under the silty mid-brown soil at about 0.5m below the surface. It appeared to be running approximately north-east/south-west and the two exposed sides were at an angle of 90 degrees, although the corner was not exposed. A sondage near the western end of the trench found that the interface between this loose gravel and the mid-brown silty soil was vertical for at least 0.3m.

Field 5

Trench Va: This was in the middle of the driveway leading past the house to the mill. The surface consisted of rough cobbling set in sand. This overlay hard metalling about 0.16m below the present surface. At a depth of 0.25m there was a layer of light-brown clay with a very hard surface, and at 0.4m there was what appeared to be another metalled surface. By 0.61m the ground still consisted of very hard, compacted, stony gravel. A sherd of blackware (16E0144:1) was found here. At a depth of 1.1m, hard greenish-grey clay was cut by a linear feature running approximately north-north-east/south-south-west. It was 0.3m across and was filled with gravel and stones. It was about 0.2m deep and may have been a drain.

Trench Vb: This trench was immediately to the south-east of the eastern end of the house. Here, a deposit of leaf-mould or soil overlay rough cobbling. This overlay a stony deposit, below which was grey sand containing a few fragments of red and yellow brick. Part of the base of a bottle, of thick green glass (16E0144:2), was found at a depth of 0.9m. At a depth of approximately 0.6m this overlay a deposit of yellow clay into which a linear feature was cut. It was similar to that in Trench Va, as it was filled with grey gravel and had the same orientation. However, it was at a higher level.

Trench Vc: This cutting ran east-north-east from the north-east corner of the mill. It exposed the junction between the corner and a stone wall across the end of the wheel-pit. At the original ground level, the latter wall was stepped out 0.3m. The step was built of stone, like the upper part of the wall, but had a concrete top. At the base of the step was a stone slab which was part of the cover of a box drain. This drain, which had stone side walls and appeared to be paved with flat stones, would have formed the tail-race carrying water from the wheel-pit. The interior was approximately 0.9m wide and 0.4m high, and the top of the covering slabs was 0.6m below the present ground surface. Alongside the drain, to the south, was a wall of mortared stone which started at the corner of the mill. It had been demolished to below the present ground level. It was approximately 0.95m thick. Whereas the wall of the mill was facing east-north-east, this wall and the drain ran in a more north-easterly direction. The north side of the drain was not exposed. A sherd of glazed red earthenware (16E0144:3) was found at on top of the stone slabs, at the base of the step.  

Trench Vd: The area inside the gateway leading to field IV, to the north of the stable, was briefly investigated because a dip in the ground and a small hole suggested the presence of a void beneath the surface. A square opening into a drain similar to that in Trench Vc was found. It had been covered with an old iron gate and plastic fertiliser sacks. Its presence was noted but it was not investigated further, but another part was investigated later in Trench Vk.

Trench Ve: A small sondage, 1m x 0.7m, was dug against the southern end of the house, opposite the door of the mill. The house was built directly on the ground surface, without a foundation, but some of the stones of the lowest course protruded 0.05-0.08m beyond the wall above. This wall was built on orange-yellow clay. In the sondage, stones were found 0.3m down. This was the top of a French drain, running parallel to the wall of the house. It was a further 0.3m deep, and there was a layer of sand at the base, with water still present. This layer of sand was 0.03-0.04m thick. The drain was 0.4m wide. A number of the stones had mortar adhering, showing that they were re-used from a demolished structure. They were up to 0.25m across and were well fitted together. The topmost part consisted of smaller stones, more loosely fitted.

Trench Vf: A similar sondage to Ve, beside the door of the mill. This uncovered another French drain, in this case running parallel to the wall of the mill. A small screw-cap glass bottle found among the stones showed that this drain must have been constructed or, more likely, cleaned out in the 20th century. There was also a sherd of glazed red earthenware (16E0144:4). The mill, like the house, appeared to have been built directly on the ground surface. The ground here, unlike that in Ve, consisted of grey rather than orange clay. Unlike the orange, this was probably not undisturbed natural, but could not be further investigated because even for a small machine it was rather cramped.  

Trench Vg: An attempt was made to open a cutting between the ruin and the stable. Under the surface soil and gravel, however, was a good cobbled surface. Part of this was exposed and photographed, and then left intact.

Trench Vh: About 1m to the east of Vg, a small area was found where the cobbles had been disturbed, so a sondage was dug here instead. The modern gravel which covered the cobbles in Vg was found here to a depth of 0.2m. This overlay a deep deposit of greenish-grey clay. This was not natural. It contained occasional flecks of bone and charcoal. Just under 1m below the surface, this came down onto gravel which was probably a natural river deposit.

Trench Vi: A small sondage, 1.4 x 0.6m, was dug against the north side of the house. A strip of rough cobbling, 0.35m wide, survived along the wall. This was left in situ. It overlay grey-brown clay shading into orange clay. The sondage was excavated down to a depth of 0.5m.

Trench Vj: This was a longer sondage, 8.2m long by 1m wide, running north-north-east from near the northern door of the house. It was dug to establish the line of the drain found in Trench Vc. The drain was found, 6.6m from the porch of the house. It was excavated only to the level of the top slab, which could not be removed as it extended into the walls of the trench on both sides. When some loose stones beside this were removed, water poured out, so the water came up to the top of the drain here, which it did not in Vc. Natural orange clay was present at either end of the trench, including the northernmost 2m. The area in the middle consisted of grey-brown clay, and a clear U-shaped cut could be seen on the northern side. This was approximately 6m wide, and pre-dates the drain but is unlikely to have been dug specifically for it, although it may have represented an earlier open channel.

Trench Vk: Long sondage running north-north-east in the middle of the driveway opposite the east gable end of the stable. The uppermost 0.3m consisted of sandy soil with modern refuse – plastic, coal etc. This overlay a rough cobbled or metalled surface set in very hard gravel. This overlay very hard clay, natural in appearance. It was orange towards the top, then shaded into dark grey. The sondage was excavated down to 0.6m below the present ground surface.

Trench Vl: This was excavated to clarify the nature of the drain-like feature found in Trench Vd. It was inside the gateway leading into Field IV, immediately to the north of the track. Beneath the sod layer was a pit filled with modern refuse. At a depth of 1.1m below the surface the base of this pit was formed by a cobbled floor covered in plaster. This was 1.6m wide, with a raised stone on either side, also plastered. This appeared to be the continuation of the drain. As this was close to the river it may never have been covered over. To the north of this, some stones can be seen in the river bank, close to the surface of the water. The line of stones is at least twice as wide as the cobbling in the trench, which suggests that it splayed out before entering the river. The OS maps of 1912 and 1938 show a watercourse, open except for the crossing into Field IV, linking the mill-race directly with the river, obviously functioning as an overflow. On the first edition of the six-inch map the line is shown, but only as a field boundary.

 

 

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