County: Meath Site name: Spiddal, Nobber
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 24E0073
Author: Derek Gallagher, Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit Ltd
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 682777m, N 784777m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.805938, -6.743269
An Archaeological Assessment (test trenching) was carried out at Spiddal, Nobber, Co. Meath on 30–31 January 2024. The assessment was carried out in relation to a proposed re-countering of agricultural land, upgrades of the existing farm track and the construction of a temporary wheel wash. The site measures c. 3.52 hectares and is adjacent to and south of a local road (L3402). It consists of a portion of agricultural fields. The test trenches measured 1.8m in width, and in total, 814m of linear trenches were excavated. The trenches were positioned across two fields with a significant gap between them and within the footprint of the proposed development.
The ground level was between 0.4-0.75m above the natural subsoil. The site contains no monuments as listed in the Record of Monuments and Places. The nearest such monument is an Earthwork (ME015-101) located c. 350m to the northwest of the site. There are no Protected Structures within the site, the townland, or in the immediate proximity as listed in the Meath County Development Plan 2021 - 2027.
Cartographical and aerial imagery were examined. The site is depicted as within several fields, with portions shown as a rough pasture on the 1835 OS map. By the 1910 OS map, a wet ditch is shown, and it forms the western boundary of the northern portion of the site and the eastern boundary of the southern portion of the site. By the 1996 – 2000 aerial survey, an agricultural building was constructed and it was extended by 2018.
No archaeological features or deposits were exposed, and no finds were recovered. The work is now complete, and no further mitigation is necessary.
Unit 21 Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth. A92 DH99.