2018:863 - Rear of 19-22 Aungier Street, Dublin, Dublin

The site of the development is located to the rear of 19-22 Aungier Street, Dublin, of which Nos 20 (RPS 299), 21 (RPS 300) and 22 (RPS 301) are protected structures and Nos 21 and 20 are listed within the Record of Monuments and Places, (DU018-020184 a 16th/17th-century house) and (DU018-020184-House - 16th/17th century).
The site is also located within an archaeologically sensitive area being within the suburbs of the medieval town, immediately south of the site of a medieval hospital and church dedicated to St Stephen (DU018-020593), and within the postulated early medieval enclosure around St Peter’s Church (DU018-020089). The evidence for such an enclosure is still extant in the curving lines of Stephen’s Street and White Friar Street. It is outside of the city walls to the south-east of Dublin Castle in an area that had been termed the “…ecclesiastical suburb of medieval Dublin” (Clarke, 1998).

The remains of two parallel garden plot walls (C062 and C063) to the rear of 21 Aungier Street, were recorded during monitoring; these walls ran parallel with the existing original gable walls of 21 Aungier Street. The garden plot walls mirror the width of the original proportions of the house which is 40 feet wide (12m). These two garden plot walls were constructed of red brick of Georgian type and proportions and survived to an average height of 1.3m below the current ground level; they were constructed in an English bond pattern of brick work and would have appeared quite ornate. The stratigraphy recorded within the extent of the garden plot walls appears to suggest that the height of the current modern ground level has been raised some 1.87m from the original level of the Georgian garden.

During the excavation of the deposits recorded within the garden plot a third stone-built wall was recorded (C056), which appears to have been built in order to subdivide the original garden plot. The construction of this wall may coincide with the house being subdivided in the early 18th century. At this time the house was owned by a William Fielding, a coach maker whose family remained the owners for most of that century.

Also associated with the original garden plot walls, two wall lines (C068 and C069) running parallel to the rear of 21 Aungier Street were recorded; these brick- and stone-built walls appeared to denote a change in ground level between the rear of the house and the garden plot, suggesting that the original access to the garden from the house was from the basement level of the house or a possible staircase from the ground floor. A cesspit containing sherds of 17th-century pottery was recorded directly alongside these walls within the south-west corner of the garden plot (C070).

The subsurface remains of a number of Georgian foundation walls were also recorded (C004 & C059). These walls were constructed of red brick of Georgian type and proportions and appear to represent a group of possible workshops/outbuildings depicted along the northern side of Bow Lane to the rear of 19-22 Aungier Street; they are clearly depicted on John Rocque’s Plan of the City of Dublin 1756 and are also depicted on Brooking’s Map of 1728. These foundations appear to represent a second phase of Georgian development of the grounds located to the rear of 21 Aungier Street.

After recording the above features, the level of the whole site was reduced onto the underlying boulder clay. During this phase of monitoring evidence of two linear parallel ditches was recorded. These two ditches ran approximately north-east to south-west through the centre of the site. The north-east extent of these ditches appeared to run under the western side of Bow Lane and the south-west limit appeared to run under or has been truncated by the construction of 21 Aungier Street and the excavation works associated with the excavation of its basement.

In total, approximately 34m in length of these two parallel ditches was excavated; they had an average combined width of 4.07m. Nine sections were excavated through the ditches to record any changes in the stratigraphy of the deposits within them. The two ditches were divided by a central bank. The northern ditch (C007) had an average width of 1.95m and an average depth of between 0.9m and 0.95m, below the level of the surface of the boulder clay. The southern ditch (C006) had an average width of 2.3m and an average depth of between 0.8m and 0.84m below the level of the surface of the boulder clay.

Five of the 9 sections excavated along the length of these ditches showed clear evidence of both having been managed and partly re-excavated during the time they were in use, with clear evidence of recuts within the deposits within the two ditches. Finds retrieved from within the upper deposits suggest that the ditches may have been still partly visible until the late 16th-17th centuries. This may suggest that the ditches only disappeared from the landscape during the development of the Aungier Estate between the 1660s and 1680s.
The lower stratigraphy, deposits, and the physical nature and appearance of the two ditches strongly suggest that they are contemporary with each other, with finds associated with the deposits suggesting a date ranging between the late 12th into the 13th century as noted from the pottery assemblage. However the stratigraphic evidence within the deposits of the ditches suggest that both had been subject to management and the re-cuts visible within the stratigraphy indicated that both ditches have been partly re-excavated during their use.
With this in mind radiocarbon dates were obtained fro samples of animal bone from the base fill of C006, (C015) and a clear recut deposit from C007 (C016); these deposits were chosen for sampling because these sections of the ditches appeared to be the best preserved.

The results revealed a calibrated date range of Cal 860-1030 AD (at a probability of 92.8%) from the basal deposits of ditch C006 (C015) and a calibrated date range of Cal 1040-1260 AD (at a probability of 92.8%) from the fill of the recut in ditch C007 (C016).
The dates and the stratigraphy appear to suggest that both ditches were originally dug and started to silt up between 860-1030 AD and were kept in use until between 1040-1260, with the upper deposits and their associated finds suggesting that they might still have been partly visible until the 1660s to 1680s, when the Aungier Estate was developed.

The two ditches appeared isolated in the centre of the site, with no evidence of any further early medieval or later medieval features or deposits present. With this site located within the suburbs of the medieval town, immediately north of the site of a medieval hospital and church dedicated to St Stephen and within the postulated early medieval enclosure around St Peter’s Church, this is somewhat surprising. Excavations associated with the development of the Beaux Lane House Building carried out by James Eogan (00E037) and Cia McConway (99E0354) identified evidence of medieval habitation and burials, which were identified on the southern side of Bow Lane directly adjacent to the site of 19-22 Aungier Street, Dublin.

The limited activity identified within the site might suggest that it is located outside of any boundaries denoting settlement or burial associated with the medieval hospital and church of St Stephen with the alignment of Bow Lane probably representing a boundary or the limits of burial/medieval habitation. This may point to the two ditches being originally located within field systems or agricultural undeveloped lands. With these ditches being located within the postulated early medieval enclosure, the question which must be asked is what their function might have been. A linear ditch within a landscape suggests a boundary denoting the extent of property/land division. The fact that there are two parallel ditches suggests a notable physical boundary that may have had a defensive nature and if we postulate that the ditches were originally accompanied by internal or external banks, they would have appeared as a notable feature in the landscape.
After excavation of the ditches and the monitoring of the remaining ground reduction works within the site monitoring was concluded in March of 2018. With no further archaeological features and deposits recorded, it is recommended that the construction of the development proceed without any further archaeological requirements.

Reference:
Clark, H., 1998 'Urbs et suburbium: beyond the walls of medieval Dublin', in C. Manning (ed.) Dublin and beyond the Pale, 45-58. Bray. Wordwell.

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