2022:315 - Coolgreaney Road, Sheephouse, Arklow, Wicklow

Three trenches were excavated in the grounds of a school in advance of the proposed construction of new school buildings. Test trenches were mechanically excavated under constant archaeological supervision using a 16 tonne excavator fitted with a grading bucket. RMP site WI040-061 Battlefield is located within the school grounds. Topsoil was generally 0.3-0.6m in depth with relatively compact mottled light brown or yellowish-brown stoney clay subsoil. Construction debris had been buried in the eastern end of the trenches with deeper deposits located closer to the school buildings. It is thought that the construction debris may originate from the works associated with the construction of the school buildings in previous decades. An in-filled ditch containing 20th-century debris such as glass fragments and household rubbish was identified in all three trenches. It appears to be aligned on a field boundary depicted on the historic 25” OS map surveyed between 1888-1913. A lintelled drain in Trench 2 appeared to feed into this ditch/field boundary. No features finds or deposits of archaeological significance were identified during the course of test excavations.
Principally due to the location of WI040-061, Battlefield, within the subject site, the use of a metal-detector was required to aid finds retrieval. The metal-detecting survey covered the exposed trench surfaces and excavated spoil. Several responses occurred during the survey, under detection device no. 22R0250. Most items contained iron and comprised modern objects such as screws, coins, bolts and bottle tops and as such were not retained.

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