EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Waterford
At least fourteen plots were uncovered in a series of excavations adjacent to High Street
(E406, E434, E527), of which only eight contained definite structural evidence (McCutcheon
1997a, 142). Post-medieval features had truncated much of the street-fronting sites though it
was possible to identify a series of north-south boundary fences associated with these plots
to the east of Arundel Square (McCutcheon 1997a, 149; McCutcheon & Hurley 1997, 154).
An east-west boundary fence was uncovered 2.0m from the southern limit of an excavation
along the northern side of Arundel Square- at the western end of Peter Street and High
Street (McCutcheon 1997a, 149). The boundary division was maintained in various forms
from the earliest to the latest level where it was represented by a stone wall on a wooden
raft with piled foundations dated to A.D. 1508 (McCutcheon 1997a, 149). It was suggested
that this east-west boundary could represent a division between the Peter Street and High
Street properties though as these streets diverged to the west, it could alternatively form part
of a central plot boundary.
Four east-west plots were uncovered at the western extent of the twelfth-century town along
Bakehouse Lane (E343, E435, E550 and E422) which joins Peter Street at the north to Lady
Lane at the south (McCutcheon 1997b, 164-165). Three of the plots to the north were
contiguous with each other while a further one was situated at the extreme south of the
series of excavated sites.
STRUCTURES
Scandinavian House Types
This section will identify the different types of structures that were present in Scandinavian
Waterford and follows with descriptions of some of these buildings from a variety of
excavation reports. Wallace (1992 & 2001) has identified seven main types of buildings
recovered within the Irish Scandinavian towns. Types 1, 2, 4, 6 and possibly Type 7 have
been identified at the Scandinavian settlement at Waterford.
Type 1 buildings comprise the vast majority of excavated examples and have been found
from the mid-ninth to twelfth-century levels. Type 1 structures were long, rectangular
buildings with rounded corners. They had low post-and-wattle walls and a rood that was
supported by two pairs of large posts that were set in from the side and end walls. A stonelined
hearth was centrally placed and doors were usually located at each end of the building.
The buildings were divided by aisles and the long central floor was flanked on both sides by
built-up bedding which ran parallel to the side walls. The average floor area was 40m 2
(Wallace 1992, 9–14). The Type 2 buildings were sub-rectangular in plan, with pronounced
rounded corners, and were smaller than Type 1 structures with an average area of 15m 2 .
They were not aisled and rarely had formal fireplaces. The door was usually in the sidewall
and the walls were generally formed with a double line of post-and-wattle. Type 3 (1992, 16–
7) are typically slimmer and shorter versions of Type 1 structures that were built in narrow
and smaller plots. Type 4 buildings are sunken structures in which the floor is situated below
ground level. Examples have been recorded at Waterford, Dublin and Limerick. Type 5
structures describe small huts without roof supports which probably functioned as animal
pens or were utilised for other outdoor activities (Wallace 1992a, 17–8; Fig. 11). Type 6
buildings refer to Sill-Beam structures with load-bearing walls which appear to have been
constructed from the early-twelfth century onwards in Waterford and Cork. Type 7 refers to
rectangular stone buildings found within Hiberno-Scandinavian towns. They have also only
been found at Waterford and date to the mid twelfth century.
Excavated Waterford Scandinavian Type Houses
There is a considerable corpus of excavated Scandinavian and medieval buildings in
Waterford city. Though a small number of these buildings have been excavated recently (e.g.
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