EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Cork
Mid-Eleventh Century Type 6 Sill-Beam Buildings
The remains of a Type 6 sill-beam structure, dated by dendrochronology to the mid-twelfth
century, were uncovered overlying two post-and-wattle building at the junction of Hanover
Street and South Main Street on the South Island (Cleary 2003, 31-44; Hurley 2003a, 158).
Only the foundation sill-beams and the bases of the earth-fast structural uprights survived in
situ. The remains consisted of a four roomed building set axially to the South Main Street
which had a maximum length of 11.50m-12.50m (east-west) and was 5m-6m in width (northsouth).
The house was internally partitioned with post and stakes and substantial timbers
replaced the vertical timbers of the south wall. These timbers produced a
dendrochronological date of A.D. 1171±9, indicating a time-span of c. 20 years between the
initial construction and the later modifications.
Four timber-framed sill-beam houses were excavated at the angle of South Main Street (40-
48) and Old Post Office Lane, adjacent to the South Gate Bridge in the south-eastern
quadrant of the South Island (Ní Loingsigh 2003 & 2005). The timber-framed houses
superseded the series of east-west aligned Type 1 and Type 2 buildings which fronted onto
the north-south main medieval street lying beneath the modern South Main Street. Only the
composite base-pads and some large upright posts survived in situ. The upright timbers had
a date range of AD 1145–1156.
Late Eleventh/Twelfth century Possible Buildings
A small area of excavation at No. 5 Barrack Street on the South Bank revealed the remains of
two fence/property divisions or possible house walls (Lane & Sutton 2003, 9-12). Two timber
staves were driven into the estuarine clays at the lowest levels and were associated with
layers of compacted organic material containing late eleventh/early twelfth century pottery.
The presence of wattle in the upper organic layer may indicate collapsed wattle walls though
no direct evidence for post-and-wattle walls were revealed. Three large vertical timbers were
exposed within the upper organic levels and may have formed part of a second fence line or
structure. Two of the timbers produced felling dates of A.D. 1014±9 and A.D. 1061±9. Above
these levels were layers of hearth material and shell deposits associated with late
eleventh/fourteenth-century pottery.
Overview
The Type 1 and Type 2 post-and-wattle Hiberno-Scandinavian buildings at Cork principally
date from A.D. 1100-1150 though the tradition of post-and-wattle in buildings did continue to
be employed at Christchurch on the east side of South Main Street between the late twelfthfourteenth
century (Hurley 1997, 100-103). In contrast, the post-and-wattle tradition at
Waterford was largely replaced by sill-beam buildings with earth-fast roof supports by the
mid-to late twelfth century at Peter Street in Waterford (Cleary, Hurley & Shee Twohig 1997,
103). In recent years, a similar sequence of buildings has also been identified at Cork at
Hanover Street (Cleary 2003, 31-44) and at the junction of Old Post Office Lane and (40-48)
South Main Street (Ní Loingsigh 2003 & 2005).
CRAFT
A considerable number of artefacts associated with a range of craft and industrial activities
have been uncovered in Cork city though the vast majority of these finds dates from after the
late twelfth century. In contrast to Waterford and Dublin city, the evidence for Scandinavian
craft-working and industry is more limited.
The advances and changes in carpentry techniques at Cork are testified in the evolution of
the buildings and timber revetments. Wooden vessel staves and discs were recorded at
Hanover Street (Cleary & Hurley 2003, 354) and lathe-turned artefacts from Hanover Street
(Cleary & Hurley 2003, 354) and 40-48 South Main Street (Ní Loingsigh 2005) testify to the
presence of specialized coopers at Cork in the later twelfth century.
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