County: Armagh Site name: Old Mill Road, Scarva
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DOW 033:020 Licence number: AE/17/29
Author: Francis Woods, Gahan & Long Ltd
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 706803m, N 842917m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.323795, -6.358164
An archaeological evaluation was undertaken ahead of the proposed construction of an anaerobic digestion plant on lands 70m north-west of 31 Old Mill Road, Scarva. The development is located within the area of the registered Demesne of Scarva House (D-057).
Previous ground reduction works have lead to significant disturbance of the site. It was originally proposed to conduct archaeological monitoring of an area of the site as identified by DFC:HED. This area was identified on the basis that it had been subject to the least amount of disturbance from the previous ground works. However, upon arrival at the site, it was apparent that the area identified consisted of significant levels of artificially raised ground, created by the upcast from the adjacent ground reduction. Furthermore, this area was identified by the site owner as not being subject to any construction works for the proposed development. A small area of the site was available for evaluation. This consisted of the area of the new access lane which extends along the northern boundary of the site.
To assess this area for archaeological material, a single test trench was excavated along the length of the access lane. The trench was excavated using a back-acting machine fitted with a toothless bucket. The trench extended through an area which has been planted with trees. Topsoil was removed to a depth of 0.4-0.5m along the trench. This directly overlay naturally occurring subsoil which consisted of an orange/brown glacial till. A number of modern agricultural drains were identified extending across the trench. No archaeological features were identified within the trench.
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