County: Dublin Site name: Stocking Lane, Newtown Little, Dublin 16
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 23E0863 ext.
Author: Derek Gallagher, Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit Ltd
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 713344m, N 726600m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.277597, -6.300461
Test excavations were carried out at Stocking Lane, Newtown, Dublin 16. The proposed development site is within a green field east of Stocking Lane. The site is bounded by the grounds of Rookwood House to the north and by housing estates to the east and south.
The site contains no Recorded Monuments or protected structures as listed in the South County Council Development Plan 2022-2028. A Protected Structure, Rookwood House (RPS Ref. No. 327), is situated c. 47m north of the proposed development and is also listed within the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH, Reg. No. 11216033). A review of cartographic sources and aerial images did not show any evidence of previously unrecorded archaeological sites.
A geophysical survey (23R0452) was carried out on this site prior to testing in November 2023. It did not identify any definite signs of archaeology. An array of positive responses of potential archaeological significance were identified, but they might equally be geological or modern in nature. These include scattered positive responses (?Archaeology) that might represent cut features such as pits/post-holes but could also represent iron in the topsoil. A series of parallel linear features aligned north-northeast to south-southwest were recorded. These were likely associated with recent land use and represent furrows (cultivation). A roughly north-to-south aligned linear feature, representing a former field boundary that is depicted on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey 6-inch map (1836), was detected. A buried service aligned east-west was also detected across the survey area.
Archaeological test trenching was carried out in July 2024, targeting the anomalies identified in the geophysical survey. A tracked excavator fitted with a toothless grading bucket excavated 20 trenches covering 1,268.52 linear meters across the footprint of the proposed development.
The topsoil varied in depth between 0.1m and 0.3m and lay above a mid- to light greyish-brown sandy clay subsoil, which varied in depth between 0.09m and 0.4m. The natural ground was exposed in all trenches and consisted of a light yellowish-brown sandy clay with moderate stone.
The anomalies identified in the geophysical survey appeared to be geological in nature and were not archaeological. No previously unrecorded archaeological features or deposits were identified during test trenching, and no artefacts were recovered from the excavated trenches. Excavated topsoil was examined for finds, with only modern white ceramics recovered.
The results of the archaeological test trenching show that the site has no archaeological potential, and the development will have no archaeological impact.
All archaeological investigations are now complete, and no further mitigation is required.
Unit 21 Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth. A92 DH99.
