County: Antrim Site name: 4-12 Point Street, Larne
Sites and Monuments Record No.: ANT040-084 Licence number: AE-21-018
Author: Eoin Halpin
Site type: Urban
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 739821m, N 902460m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.850433, -5.822618
It was proposed to demolish the public house with integral function rooms and guest house accommodation and redevelop with a boutique hotel to include a bar, restaurant, function room and guest accommodation on lands at 2-4 Bridge Street & 4-12 Point Street, Larne.
The proposal was located within ANT040:084, associated with the historic settlement of Larne, and it was possible that the imprecisely located site of St Mary’s of Ynver (ANT040:035) might be located immediately to the south of the subject site and some elements of this site may have extended into the development area; as such the archaeological potential of the subject site was considered to be high.
It was proposed that, post-demolition of the upstanding remains, a series of three machine-dug archaeological test trenches were to be excavated to cover the footprint of the development, to assess the nature, date and extent of any surviving archaeological deposits on site and in consultation with the relevant heritage authorities, agree a development proposal.
Testing took place on 4 February 2021. A large shallow ditch was noted running north-east/south-west across the site, corresponding to the line of a townland boundary recorded on the OS maps. This feature was backfilled and the entire area of the site was overlain by a layer of apparently sterile orange-brown gravel loam clay which contained a significant quantity of large rounded boulders. This layer was in turn overlain by a deposit of grey-brown clay loam which contained fragments of red brick and sherds of 19th-century pottery. The upper deposits were all disturbed from the construction and demolition of the buildings which were on site until the very recent past.
It is proposed to construct the new build on a raft foundation, the formation level of which will be at 3.9m OD, or 1m below present ground level. This will mean that there will be minimal impacts on any surviving in situ archaeologically significant deposits.
AHC Ltd, 36 Ballywillwill Road, Castlewellan, Co. Down BT31 9LF
