County: Antrim Site name: 4 Governor’s Place, Carrickfergus
Sites and Monuments Record No.: HB 22/08/029 Licence number: AE/18/193
Author: Jonathan Barkley
Site type: Post-medieval buildings
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 741219m, N 887294m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.713878, -5.808244
Archaeological monitoring of 4 Governor's Place, Carrickfergus, took place between 9 January 2019 and 27 March 2019.
The earliest phase of archaeology encountered during the excavations was a disturbed stone foundation [6]-[8]. This foundation predated the brick foundations of 4 Governor's Place and may relate to the building which was present on this site from 1760. However, in absence of artefactual evidence it is not possible to further refine a date of construction of this building, and it could either pre-, or post-date 1760 as a building is present at this location from at least this period onwards.
The next phase of archaeology was the brick foundations for 4 Governor's Place, and the building which formerly stood to its rear. These foundations date to 1910 when the building was erected.
Contemporary to the erection of 4 Governor's Place a brick drain was placed through the alleyway on its east side. This was then covered by a lime mortar floor, and brick paths placed on either side.
The final phase saw the construction of a passage formed from concrete shuttered walls and iron beams. An iron rail within the passage may have been used to track some form of crane or winch for the coal yard. This would appear to have been constructed after the building behind 4 Governor's Place was demolished.
The original subsoil was not reached in any area, and it is deemed likely that all of the archaeology recorded has been constructed on to areas of made ground whose basal layers may date from the 13th century (as found in the adjacent excavations on Cheston Street). These remain preserved in situ beneath 4 Governor’s Place.
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