Location
License No.
Description
(SMR 74:31(02)). A short distance to the south of the church and graveyard is the site of the medieval Shandon Castle (SMR 74:32). A main central trench (c. 3m wide) was excavated along the full length of the street to an average depth of 1.6m below ground level. In general the fill was sterile and had been disturbed by existing services, but there were traces of a cobbled surface associated with the old Butter Exchange, now the Shandon Craft Centre, and a kerb of upright limestone slabs on the southern edge of the street (retained in situ). The main feature was a stone culvert (probably of 19th-century construction) that ran east – west for the full length of the street. Constructed with sandstone and limestone slabs, it had been partially consolidated with a coarse concrete mortar and had an average width of c. 1.5m. The culvert contained a clay foul-water pipe that sat on a bed of yellow bricks. Quay Farren’s Quay is a short stretch of road along the north bank of the River Lee. It connects Pope’s Quay to Griffith Bridge and Shandon Street. An east – west trench, 1.1 – 1.6m in width, was dug on the northern side of the road to a maximum depth of 1.8m. At the eastern limit of the trench, c. 1.1m below the road surface, traces of an east – west limestone wall were identified in section only. Further west, a dump of post-medieval pottery, mixed with large sandstone and limestone slabs, was recorded between 1.5 and 2m below road surface. Farren’s A second east – west trench (average width 1.5m; average depth 1.7m) was excavated on the southern side of the road adjacent to the quay wall. At 1.3m below road surface a 5m stretch of a slightly curved limestone and sandstone wall, rendered on its north face, was recorded. The wall had previously been disturbed during insertion of electricity cables but was not interfered with during the present works. Given its limited exposure, the exact nature of the structure is not known, but it may have been associated with an 18th-century bridge in this position. (Lower) The drainage and repaving works are focused on Shandon Street, which is the main street leading uphill (north) from the area of the medieval city onto Gerald Griffin Street in Blackpool. Shandon Street The main services trenches varied in width from 0.9 to 1.8m and were dug to an average of 1.8m below the modern street surface. As on Church Street, outcrops of red sandstone bedrock occurred almost directly beneath the street surface in places, but the general fill was a build-up of redeposited stony soil with occasional patches of organic- rich soil, a dump of metal slag and several stone foundations from demolished 18th- or 19th-century houses.
Integrated Urban Strategy, Shandon, Cork Baseline archaeological assessment
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