County: Meath Site name: Dublin Road, Newcastle, Enfield
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 22E0264
Author: Deirdre Murphy, Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit Ltd
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 677150m, N 741220m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.415458, -6.839461
Archaeological test trenching was carried out on the site at Dublin Road, Enfield, Co. Meath. This was informed by geophysical survey 22R0117.
A total of 15 test trenches were excavated within the site. The test trenches targeted anomalies discovered during the geophysical survey. Each trench measured 1.8m in width, and in total 1,761m of linear trenches were excavated. The test trenches were excavated down to the natural subsoil that varied from orange
boulder clay to a yellowish-grey sandy clay and grey marl. In general topsoil measured 0.3-0.4m in depth.
Plough furrows were evident in many of the trenches and numerous ditches were also encountered. Many of these features were also detected during geophysical survey. The sections of ditches exposed in test trenches corresponded to a former north-east to south-west field boundary in the north-western part of the site that was visible on both the OS 6-inch 1835 and OS 25-inch 1910 maps. A second north-west to south-east orientated ditch was exposed in trenches in the eastern part of Field 1 and these corresponded to a former field boundary visible on the OS 25-inch 1910 map. The remaining anomalies detected in the geophysical survey were targeted and deemed geological in nature; some represented changes in topsoil that did not extend to the subsoil. A linear anomaly, 4D, was identified as a stone-filled land drain visible across two test trenches.
No archaeological features were identified, and no finds were recovered.
Unit 21 Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth. A92 DH99.
