County: Meath Site name: R153 Ferganstown and Ballymacon, Alexander Reid, Bailis
Sites and Monuments Record No.: n/a Licence number: 18E0308
Author: Liam Coen c/o Archer Heritage Planning
Site type: Testing, no archaeology found
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 689093m, N 758071m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.564970, -6.655075
Test excavations were undertaken in advance of the construction of the LDR6/RT8 Distributor Road. The site is comprised of agricultural land used for crop and bounded by mature hedgerows to the north-east of the town of Navan. The aim of the test excavation was to investigate potential archaeological features discovered initially through geophysical survey.
A total of 25 trenches were excavated across the site. Topsoil ranged in depth from 0.3-0.5m over the area. However an extensive area of fill material containing refuse and large stones was noted in Trenches 1, 3. This was interpreted as a backfilled quarry pit. Trenches in this area were not excavated as far as natural subsoil. Elsewhere, subsoil across the scheme comprised orange-brown stony clay. A small number of non-archaeological features were recorded in Trenches 1, 4 and consisted of a field boundary ditch and 2 drains. No archaeological material was encountered in any of the excavated trenches.
Archer Heritage Planning, 8 Beat Centre, Stephenstown, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin.
