2017:450 - Former Down Royal Public House, Ballinderry Road, Lisburn, Antrim

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken ahead of the proposed redevelopment of the site of the former Down Royal Public House, Ballinderry Road, Lisburn. The development will consist of the demolition of the existing building and the construction of 12 two-storey dwellings and 65 apartments, including basement car park and landscaped courtyard.
This evaluation was carried out for phase 1 of the proposed development works, which consisted of the construction of access onto the site. Two test trenches were excavated using a back-acting machine to the levels of naturally occurring subsoil or archaeological strata, whichever was highest.
Trench 1 was excavated close to the entrance to the site, orientated north-south. The trench was 9m in length, and 1.2m in depth. The uppermost layer of the trench was a layer of tarmac which was 0.2m in depth. This overlay a layer of bedding material, a yellow-brown soil matrix with frequent gravel inclusions. This bedding material was 0.3m in depth. Underneath the bedding was a layer of rubble. This rubble was a reddish-brown soil matrix, but also very stony with inclusions of red brick. It had a maximum depth of 0.7m. The rubble layer sealed the naturally occurring subsoil, which was an orange-brown clay.
Trench 2 was excavated into the second parking bay and orientated east-west. The trench was 35m in length, and had a maximum depth of 3m. The uppermost layer of the trench was a layer of tarmac which was 0.2m in depth. This overlay a layer of bedding material, a yellow-brown soil matrix with frequent gravel inclusions, and occasional lumps of concrete rubble. This bedding material was 0.3m in depth. This sealed a layer of rubble. This rubble was a reddish-brown soil matrix, but also very stony with inclusions of red brick. It had a maximum depth of 0.8m. Underneath this rubble, there was a grey-brown silty loam. It appeared to be a fill, rather than anything natural or alluvial. It was excavated to a depth of 1.7m, a total depth in the trench of 3m. At this depth, there was no sign of a change in this layer to something more like the natural that was encountered in Trench 1, or bedrock. No artefacts or charcoal were encountered within this layer. The decision was taken to excavate the rest of the trench, apart from the eastern end, onto the surface of this fill, rather than excavate out the trench to a dangerous depth.

There were no finds or features of archaeological significance found within any of the trenches.

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