County: Sligo Site name: Castlefield, Enniscrone
Sites and Monuments Record No.: adjacent to SL016:015 and 016 Licence number: Unlicensed monitoring
Author: Eoin Halpin
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 528991m, N 830328m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.216921, -9.088738
Sligo County Council proposed to develop a new path network within Castlefield, in Enniscrone, Co Sligo. The initial phase consisted of the development of a path running east to west some 500m long, connecting the Sandcastles Creche in the east to the Waterpoint Leisure Centre in the west. The low-impact path was an average of 2m in width and was of standard construction – crushed stone, top-dressed with quarry dust laid on geo-textile. The proposal also involved the provision of lighting bollards alongside the path, way-marking, signage and trail furniture. Due to the archaeological sensitivity of landscape across which the path is proposed to run, particularly the area of two possible passage tombs (SL016:015 and 016), a phase of unlicensed archaeological monitoring was recommended, specifically in the areas where the line of the path clipped the edge of the zones of notification associated with the tombs.
Archaeological works took place on 4 September 2020 and consisted of the monitoring of the removal of topsoil to a depth of between 0.3m and 0.4m along the 160m stretch from the south-east corner of the Waterpoint Leisure centre, westwards some 160m, and curving gradually round to the south-west to meet the line of the existing field fence. Excavations were either entirely within topsoil, or in places onto the upper surface of undisturbed subsoil.
Nothing of archaeological interest was noted in the monitoring.
AHC Ltd, 36 Ballywillwill Road, Castlewellan, Co. Down BT31 9LF
