2019:833 - OLDCASTLE: Loughcrew View, Meath

Unlicensed archaeological monitoring was carried out at a small housing development at Loughcrew View, Oldcastle as a desk-based assessment (January 2019–post planning) demonstrated the site had already formed part of a previous housing estate development and the soils had been extensively moved around in the recent past. The monitoring was required as a planning condition. The site area is c. 6,434sq m (including the compound) and approximately 5,520sq m was topsoil stripped. There was nothing known or presumed on the site and the site was outside any limit of the medieval and post-medieval town of Oldcastle in a fairly wet area adjacent to a nearby stream.

Monitoring was undertaken in two areas: the area for housing and the area of the construction compound. Adjacent to the north of both is St Brigid’s RC church (NIAH 14306032/RPS MH009-251), St Brigid’s Parochial House (NIAH 14306030 and 14306031/RPS MH009-249 and MH009-250) with its gardens and boundary including wrought iron gates (NIAH 14306033/RPS MH009-252). The intention is to build a new boundary adjacent and to the south of the Church and Parochial House boundary—and so leave the protected structures’ curtilage, consisting of a tree-rich hedge and a chain-link fence with concrete posts, intact.

The monitoring works uncovered no finds or features of archaeological significance. The site had been previously stripped of sod and some topsoil and then used to dispose of extra soils from the previous housing estate works. In the middle of the housing area, there was a fair amount of original topsoil left in situ and the topsoil heaps were inspected for finds. A moderate amount of 19th–20th-century pottery, clay tobacco pipe and some glass, slate and red brick were noted showing the area was manured with domestic waste at that time. The western end of the site was the compound area for the previous housing estate works. This had been stripped into subsoil previously and still had many chippings pressed into the glacial till.

The works involved machine stripping soils with a flat-bladed ditching bucket to a formation layer. In order to clarify the relationships between surface soils and glacial till, several test-pits were dug and the foundation trench excavations to the houses were monitored. In the compound area only the grass sod was stripped and this revealed layers of imported gravels and excess soils from the previous housing estate works. This was used as a formation level for the compound in much of the area, but in some zones it was removed and several large, glacial boulders were uncovered.

In general, glacial till comprised fairly dark orange brown gritty sandy silt with occasional large boulders. There were large lenses of a more grey-brown colour possibly produced by water staining, but it was still glacial till. Lower into the glacial till it became more clean and yellow orange in colour. No bedrock was exposed.