2022:003 - Sealy's Lane, Ballymodan Place, Gully, Bandon, Cork

Archaeological testing of a proposed mixed-use development site at Sealy’s Lane, off Ballymodan Place, Bandon, County Cork was undertaken on 13 and 14 January 2022. The testing programme was undertaken in order to inform the project design team of the nature of on-site archaeological constraints. Four test trenches, totalling 55m in length, were excavated across the site.

Evidence of fragmentary basal foundation remnants of the 17th-century defensive town wall of Bandon (CO110-019014-) was revealed in two of the excavated trenches (Trenches 1 & 2), while additional wall foundations, which largely correspond with structures depicted on the early edition OS maps, were uncovered across the eastern portion of the site. Of note was the revealing of a possible well feature, which is not depicted on the historic maps, within Trench 3.

Within T.1, the town wall remnants comprised a heavily disturbed mix of loose and random stones, primarily shale and sandstone with some slate. Some mortar concentrations survived between the stones. However, due to the level of disturbance, later intrusions such as brick, early modern tiles and 19th- and 20th-century ceramics were contained within the loose upper stones. The wall measured between 1m and 1.5m in width and only survived to a depth of c. 0.2m from its revealed upper surface. The basal portions of a possible foundation trench were uncovered to the immediate west of the wall.

Within T.2, the basal remains were more substantial than those revealed within T.1 and measured between 2m and 2.2m in width; some of this additional width may be the result of post-demolition spread. They also extended deeper into the natural alluvial gravels upon which the wall is constructed (the ‘height’ of the revealed wall foundations measured at least 0.5m). The foundations were formed by a mix of sandstone and shale blocks, shale and natural alluvial cobbles. Due to the extent of ground reduction in this area, the upper level of the revealed foundation must be approximately 2m below the original surface level of this area.

Although the town wall remnants revealed in Trenches 1 and 2 were disturbed and fragmentary in places, with modern inclusions in their upper revealed levels, the truncation of the site in the early 2000s would account for such factors. The finding of a North Devon gravel tempered ceramic roof tile (dating to 17th century) within the more substantial foundation remains revealed in Trench 2, allied with the positioning of both revealed foundations remnants on the accepted line of the 17th-century town wall, only allows for an interpretation that the revealed remains form the basal foundation elements of the former town wall of Bandon. It is highly likely that foundation remains associated with the town wall extend across the length of the accepted line of the wall within the site.

While a large portion of the site, particularly the area which lies to the west of the line of the town wall, has been reduced down into the sterile alluvial gravels and is likely devoid of any archaeological strata, the testing programme has revealed that wall foundations and other features survive in the less disturbed eastern portion of the site. The revealed probable 19th-century features in Trenches 3 and 4 extended beyond the limits of the excavated test trenches and, as such, are more extensive subsurface.

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