County: Wicklow Site name: Arklow Waste Water Treatment Plant, ‘The Alps’ SWO (Storm Water Overflow Tank), Yardland, Arklow
Sites and Monuments Record No.: Moat of Arklow Castle (WI029-029002) Licence number: 21E0809 & 21R0305
Author: Yvonne Whitty
Site type: Castle
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 724165m, N 673550m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.798643, -6.158715
Test trenching was undertaken in advance of works on a Storm Water Overflow Tank (SWO) at ‘The Alps’, part of the Arklow Waste Water Treatment Plant project. The site is below the ruins of Arklow Castle, in an overgrown ravine that would have functioned as a wet moat for the castle. Metal detecting of all spoil from the trenches was also undertaken for finds retrieval.
Three test trenches were excavated, revealing that there is a large cut running north-east to south-west along the entire length of the ravine and this contains two large concrete pipes related to previous sewage and storm water management. Additionally, a large concrete tank lies directly below the location of the castle garderobe. The fill of this area had been completely removed to bedrock and the material filling around the pipes is imported gravels and demolition rubble. The trenching did not reveal any archaeological deposits or artefacts along the entire length of the pipe cut.
There were however stray finds recovered from the topsoil sealing the pipes. It is probable that as the site was stripped for pipe laying, topsoil was stored to one side, the cut for the pipes was excavated, filled in with imported material and the topsoil was then re-spread. Finds recovered from this topsoil layer include two coins (not dated) and one 2p coin dated to 1988. Other finds included a thimble, two possible 18th-century buttons, two unidentified copper/copper alloy objects and a stone ball which may have been in use as a slingshot.
The only area which contained any intact stratigraphy was at the eastern end of Trench 2, with a series of deposits dating at the earliest to the 17th or 18th century. A George II Irish halfpenny dated 1746 was recovered from crushed bedrock along with an Irish penny which dated between 1971 and 2000. This crushed bedrock sealed the area of the ravine at the eastern limit of the site location.
No evidence of intact archaeological deposits that would be impacted by the development was identified.
TVAS (Ireland) Ltd Ahish, Ballinruan, Crusheen, Co. Clare
