2019:316 - Artikelly, Dowland Road, Limavady, Derry

Test trenching was carried out ahead of a proposed housing development at 59 Dowland Road, Limavady, Co. Derry over the course of two days from the 5-8 July 2019. The trenches targeted open green space to investigate the archaeological potential of the site. Features of archaeological potential were uncovered in five trenches and monitoring followed the initial trenching. The features exposed appear to date to the medieval/post-medieval period with some features associated with the a WWII airfield adjacent to the site.

10 trenches were excavated measuring c.600 linear meters. Five of these (Trenches 1, 4, 5, 7 and 10) revealed potential archaeological features which may represent small-scale medieval or post-medieval activity. The majority of these were linear or curvilinear in shape.

Trench 1, located parallel to the Dowland Road, contained a minimum of six potential features. Some of these may relate to possible WWII structures recorded on the map of a local airfield.

Trench 4 returned several sherds of undecorated earthenware from a single feature. An extension of 10m X 10m was excavted to the south-west of this trench extending into Trench 3. Further features of archaeological potential were uncovered, including a possible hearth and a large curvilinear spread of brownish grey sandy clay.

Trench 5 identified four linear or, again, possibly curvilinear features. The two features to the north-east may be connected as they were of a similar depth, morphology and contained very similar fills. The remaining two features were both orientated north-east/south-west.

Trench 7, located close to the airfield, contained two linear features, both orientated east–west. The demolished remains of the building, first noted on the first edition OS (1830) map, were identified in Trenches 8–10. Also identified in Trench 10 was a single possible linear feature.

Following the discovery of these features monitoring of topsoil stripping took place between July 24 and August 5 2019.

A total of 10 pits of varying sizes were identified along with three spreads and five linear features. One of the larger pits contained possible iron-working debris. Another pit contained a number of deposits and a piece of struck flint. Several pits, located close to Trenches 8-10 in the north-east of the site, returned modern 19th-century debris such as pottery, metalwork and leather shoes.

Without completing a full excavation, it is not possible to determine the exact nature of the archaeological site uncovered at Dowland Road. However, based on the preliminary testing which has been conducted, the features appear to represent small-scale medieval/post-medieval settlement. The pits and spreads appear to reflect a possible temporary settlement site which is unusual and worthy of complete investigation.

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