County: Down Site name: Ballydesland, Burren Road
Sites and Monuments Record No.: n/a Licence number: AE/18/170
Author: Eoin Halpin
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 713817m, N 820827m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.123873, -6.258774
Due to the relative close proximity of the scheduled monument DOW051:042s and the aerial photographic site DOW051:072 to the proposed development, Historic Environment Division recommended pre-development testing. This took place on 19 October 2018 and consisted of five machine-dug test trenches.
Trench 1, the easternmost trench covering the house footprint, was 26m long and 1.5m wide. It was on average 0.45m deep, but varied between 0.5m at the north end reducing to 0.3m to the south. Subsoil consisted of a very stony orange brown relatively loose sandy loam. This was overlain by a dark yellow brown relatively stone-free friable clay loam on top of which was the sod layer.
Trench 2 was located 10m to the west of the first and was also 26m long and 1.5m in width. The natural consisted of the orange brown sandy loam, and was overlain by a similar clay loam, the only notable difference was that Trench 2 was generally shallower, being on average 0.35m deep. A modern black plastic water pipe was noted running north-south along the trench bottom.
Trench 3 was opened 10m to the west of Trench 2. It was 26m long and 1.5m wide. The subsoil and over-burden were similar to that noted on the previous trenches. The interface between the base of the plough-soil and the undisturbed orange brown natural appeared in places to be ‘stripped’ possibly suggestive of the remains of agricultural plough furrows.
Trench 4, located 10m to the west of Trench 3, was also 26m long and 1.5m wide. This trench was located slightly off the ridge, on a relative down slope. As a consequence the topsoil was slightly deeper in this trench, being on average 0.6m deep, but consisting of the same dark yellow brown relatively stone-free friable clay loam, which overlay the orange brown stony subsoil.
The final trench, Trench 5, was located running east-west along the proposed line of the access driveway to the house. It was 15m in length and 1.5 mwide. As with the other trenches, natural subsoil consisted of a very stony orange brown relatively loose sandy loam, which was overlain by a dark yellow brown relatively stone-free friable clay loam on top of which was the sod layer.
Nothing of archaeological interest was noted in any of the test trenches opened.
AHC Ltd, 36 Ballywillwill Road, Castlewellan, Co. Down BT31 9LF
