County: Down Site name: Waringfield, Moira
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DOW 013:017 Licence number: AE/17/152
Author: David Kilner
Site type: Monitoring
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 714673m, N 859880m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.474427, -6.230707
Archaeological monitoring of trial pits excavated as part of Geotechnical Ground Investigation (GI) works was carried out at a site located on an existing Waste Water Pumping Station (WwPS) at Waringfield Avenue in Moira, County Down and adjacent agricultural land.
The project related to the proposed replacement of the existing WwPS and also the line of an existing rising main which runs approximately east-north-east from the WwPS across adjacent fields. The targeted archaeological watching brief related to the monitoring of nine GI pits associated with the preliminary assessment of below ground conditions. These trial pits were typically between 0.6m and 2.6m wide by between 4.3m and 9.6m long in plan area.
The Northern Ireland Sites and Monuments Record notes no archaeological sites within the footprint of the scheme with the closest, a bivallette rath (DOW 013:017), located to the immediate south of the line of the rising main that deviates around the monument. The rath, which is known locally as Pretty Mary’s Fort, is a scheduled monument.
Further activity was noted during an archaeological excavation carried out in 2004 in association with the construction of a housing development on the south-facing slope to the north of Pretty Mary’s Fort. This excavation was carried out under licence AE/04/65 and uncovered prehistoric features at the base of the slope and features dating to the Early Christian period further uphill. The prehistoric features related to Bronze Age funerary practices in the form of a cist burial, urned and un-urned cremations, pits, post-holes and a possible burnt mound. The Early Christian activity consisted of several pits and a possible crude kiln.
Monitoring of the excavation of the GI trial pits commenced on 25 October 2017 and ran intermittently until 6 November 2017. Nothing of archaeological significance was noted in the trial pits many of which showing evidence of agricultural works/ground improvements. The trial pits represent a very limited sample area within the Scheme but has resulted in valuable information on which to inform a strategy for further targeted evaluation in the form of testing.
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