2021:093 - 63-66 Pimlico, Dublin 8, Dublin

Archaeological testing took place here on 11 February 2021. The south half of the site was under concrete, which was investigated in three locations, via small, 0.50.m by 0.5m test pits, excavated with the aid of a rock breaker attached to a 5 tonne tracked digger. These test pits showed the concrete to be 0.2m deep with the two to the east of the site, reinforced. Potential noise and vibration concerns lead to a cessation of the rock breaking activity following the completion of the third test pit and work moved to the northern half of the site beyond the limits of the concrete. Here three test trenches were opened, 3, 4 and 5, running south from the Braitwaite Street frontage.

Test trench 3 was located in the north-east corner of the site and was 1.5m wide and 5m in length, with its northern end 4m from the Braithwiate Street frontage. It was not possible to progress the trench further to the south due to the presence of a thick raft of concrete. Undisturbed natural was uncovered at a depth of 15.3m OD or 1.9m below present ground level. It consisted of a compact yellow-brown mottled loam clay. This was overlain by some 0.5m of mixed loam clay, which was relatively ‘clean’ save for charcoal flecking throughout. Some red brick fragments were noted in the upper levels of the layer. This deposit was cut by an east-west running wall foundation, which was 0.8m wide and 0.3m deep. It contained a red brick-built wall which was 0.4m wide and stood three courses high. The foundation trench was filled with a mortar-flecked dark yellow-brown clay loam. The wall and surrounding clay were covered by a 0.2m thick layer of dark grey brown gritty clay loam with laminations of crushed red brick and mortar which ran the full length of the trench. This layer was in turn overlain by some 0.3m of modern disturbed ground which was covered in concrete.

Test trench 4 ran parallel with and 15m to the west of Trench 3. It ran north-south for 15m with its northern end some 3m from the Braithwaite Street frontage. Undisturbed natural was uncovered at 15.2m OD, and consisted of a compact, yellow-brown mottled loam clay. This was overlain by some 0.55m of relatively clean mixed loam clay, with some charcoal flecking, on top of which was a 0.4m thick layer of dark grey-brown gritty clay loam with laminations of crushed red brick and mortar. This deposit was cut by a north-west to south-east-running, 0.4m wide pipe trench which contained a ceramic pipe, possibly ‘live’. The pipe trench was filled with a dark mortar and red brick-flecked clay loam. The dark grey gritty layer was cut in two further places, both modern pits. That to the south was the larger, with its southern extent running beyond the southern limits of the trench. It was at least 3.5m wide and 2m in depth and was filled with builders rubble of clearly modern date. The other area of modern disturbance was located mid-trench and consisted of a 3m wide and 1.5m deep pit filled again with breeze blocks and reinforced steel-work. The trench was covered in a 0.15m deep layer of turf.

Trench 5 was located some 15m to the west of Trench 4, and ran north south for 17m, with its northern end some 4m from the Braithwaite Street frontage. Undisturbed natural was uncovered at 15.2m OD and consisted of a compacted yellow-brown loam clay. A 3m wide linear feature was noted running north-west/south-east across the southern end of the trench. It was defined by a stony charcoal-flecked clay loam. This feature was not further examined due to the depth of the trench and collapsing sides. Although not absolutely certain, it appeared that the linear feature was covered in a 0.3m thick deposit of charcoal-flecked loam clay. A number of features were cut into this clay, most interestingly a wall foundation trench, noted at the extreme southern end of the trench. The foundation and associated wall ran east-west across the trench and consisted of angular mortar bonded stones, standing some four courses high. The foundation trench was filled with a red brick and charcoal-flecked dark yellow brown clay loam. Although not clearly tied in stratigraphically, due to the presence of the later pipe trench cut, another section of walling was uncovered at the north end of the trench running north-south along the west side of the trench for 3.5m. The form of this wall was very similar to that noted at the south end of the trench, angular mortar-bonded stone, suggesting that the two wall fragments may be part of the same building.
The other feature cut into the clay was an east-west running drain, which was 0.8m wide and at best 0.3m deep and was filled with large angular stones set within a dark brown silty clay. The walls and stone-filled drain were covered by a 0.3m thick layer of dark grey-brown gritty clay loam with laminations of crushed red brick and mortar. This layer and much of the northern end of the trench were disturbed by the insertion of a trench housing a ceramic pipe. It was this feature which cut the southern extent of the wall at the north end of the trench. The entire trench was covered in a 0.4m thick layer of modern soil and turf line.

Discussion
It was not possible, due to the raft of thick reinforced concrete, to open the proposed test trenches in the southern half of the site. Despite that, the results from the three trenches opened at the north end revealed what appears to be a coherent archaeological story.
What was most noticeable about the trenches was the relative lack of complex stratified archaeological deposits and a paucity of finds. The results from each of the trenches were basically the same: undisturbed natural, overlain by between 0.3m and 0.4m of a mixed charcoal-flecked clay, on top of which was a 0.4m layer of demolition deposits, consisting of blackened soils laminated with mortar and crushed red brick, with the upper deposit consisting of modern made ground and grass.
Within this basic framework, Trench 5 revealed a potentially early large linear feature running north-west to south-east. It appeared to be sealed by the charcoal-flecked soil deposit, making it the earliest feature noted in the testing. The charcoal-flecked clay was cut by a series of walls and a drain. Two wall types were noted, a red brick-built wall in Trench 3 and a stone and mortar wall in Trench 5. The drain, also noted in Trench 5, was the classic stone-filled type which ran east-west; it was not picked up in the adjacent trench to the east, however the considerable modern disturbance noted at the south end of Trench 4 may have removed any evidence for it here.
The blackened laminated demolition deposit was noted in all three trenches and sealed the majority of the significant archaeological deposits. This layer was cut by two modern ceramic pipes in Trenches 4 and 5 and by two substantial areas of modern disturbance, both in Trench 4.
The testing therefore revealed that significant in situ archaeology was located at varying depths below current ground levels, but at a remarkably consistent 15.8m OD. This marks the upper levels of the charcoal-flecked clay deposit, noted across the three test trenches. The foundation cuts for the walls in Trenches 3 and 5 were cut into this deposit. The walls are likely associated with buildings which once fronted out onto Braithwaite Street, with the red brick wall likely representing an internal division and the stone-built walls possibly representing plot boundaries. If this were the case then the rear of plots which once fronted out onto Braithwaite Street, would have extended back some 20m.
The 3m wide linear feature in Trench 5 was the only feature possibly earlier than the charcoal-flecked clay deposit. The linear feature ran north-west to south-east and although not fully investigated was apparently quite substantial with a stony charcoal-flecked fill. It was certainly wide enough to represent a ditch and it is tempting to interpret the ditch as being part of the mid 17th-century artillery park which is thought to have been located in the area. A lease of the 1670s records the existence of a field to the north of Cork Street named as the Artillery Park; recent research (Walsh 2005) has placed this within the area bounded by John Street, Summer Street, Brathtwaite Street and Pimlico. The park would have been full of ordnance and defended round the clock and would have contained accommodation not only for the guards but also livestock in the form of byres and barns.
It would therefore appear that prior to the construction of the artillery park in the mid 17th century, the area of the proposed development was a field, probably agricultural, which might go some way to explain why there are no complex or deeply stratified deposits of the site. It is possible that the deposit of charcoal-flecked clay noted across the site is evidence for the interior of the artillery park, with the ditch feature noted in Trench 5 part of the park’s defenses. Following the abandonment of the artillery park, probable in the later part of the 17th or early 18th century, the ground was given over to domestic housing as the city expanded westwards as evidenced by the walls noted in Trenches 3 and 5.

Reference:
Walsh, P. 2005 'The defences at Ardee Street in the context of the Confederate Wars of the 1640s', Appendix 11 in Franc Myles (ed.) '24-26 Ardee Street, Dublin 8: Stratigraphic Report'. Unpublished excavation report for Margaret Gowen & Co., 7th April 2005. Pp. 449-494.

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