2016:816 - North Quay and the Mall, Drogheda, Co. Louth, Louth

Archaeological monitoring of works associated with the upgrade of a water mains at the North Quay and The Mall, Drogheda, Co Louth was carried out from 28 July to 28 November 2016 on behalf of Irish Water under Ministerial Consent (C291) as the route is immediately adjacent to the medieval town wall of Drogheda which is a National Monument.

Previous monitoring of 7 slit trenches was undertaken in November 2014 and this aimed to identify existing service locations and the nature and extent of archaeological deposits along the route. A monitoring report submitted 5 March 2015 concluded that although the line of the water main was heavily disturbed, medieval archaeological deposits survived at several locations and the likelihood of further deposits/features surviving along the route was high. Therefore archaeological monitoring of the entire pipeline route along North Quay and the Mall was recommended.

The site is located within the core of the historic town of Drogheda (LH024-041) and immediately adjacent to the medieval quay wall and town wall. The route of the proposed upgrade has significant archaeological potential and features previously exposed along the line of the water main include a 13th-century timber revetment along the North Quay, the medieval quay or river wall, a number of structures (possibly representing crane bases, towers or other medieval quayside activity), the precinct walls of the medieval Franciscan Abbey, a medieval stone kiln and St Catherine’s Gate and town wall. The proposed upgrade was designed to be kept within or as close as possible to the line of the previously excavated interceptor sewer so as to minimize the impact on archaeological deposits which have been shown to survive to within 0.4m of the existing street level.

As these works were undertaken within a public road, they were carried out in the evening and night time to minimize traffic disruption. Short sections of trench were excavated each night, sections of pipe were inserted and the excavations immediately backfilled to facilitate daytime traffic. The trench averaged 0.8m in width and the depth of excavation depended on ground conditions and varied between 0.4m and 1.6m. Upon excavation it immediately became apparent that the ground was significantly disturbed due to previously excavated services including telecom, water, fibre cables, electric cables and gas. Despite the previous disturbance, archaeological deposits and features were encountered during these works. Archaeological features exposed included a short section of medieval quay wall along North Quay, two areas of cobbling, one at 0.42m below the surface at the west end of North Quay and one at the southern end of Mayoralty Street at the edge of the footpath on the east side of the street at the junction with The Mall, at a depth of 0.36m. The remains of St Catherine’s Gate along the eastern circuit of the town wall was exposed along The Mall. West of this a small section of medieval masonry was exposed and most likely represents a north-south aligned wall associated with the Franciscan Friary. The east side of St Catherine’s Gate was abutted by a dump of limestone pitching which was possibly a water defense. The trench extended eastwards from St Catherine’s Gate terminating on the eastern side of Constitution Hill and no archaeological deposits survived in this section. Along North Quay two sections of medieval quay wall were recorded, one of which was originally recorded during excavations associated with the Drogheda Main drainage project and the other a section of medieval masonry that may have formed a structure associated with the quay wall. All medieval masonry was preserved in situ. Finds included two rim sherds of brown glazed medieval pottery and two medieval floor tiles of possible 14th-century date. All excavated spoil was subjected to metal detection but no metal artefacts were recovered.

The works are now complete and all features exposed during the archaeological monitoring have been recorded.

Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills Rd, Drogheda, Co. Louth