Of the Proposed Development 14.3 Study Method
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Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals, D6n Laoghaire, CO. Dublin Aseptic Production Expansion EIS ARCHAEOLOGY, ARCHITECTURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE 14.1 Introduction This chapter assesses the importance of the receiving archaeological, architectural and cultural heritage environment. It identifies the impact, if any, which the proposed facility will have on this environment, and it proposes measures to ameliorate any perceived impacts. The development will not have a significant impact on the archaeology, architecture or cultural heritage of the area. 14.2 Details ‘of the Proposed Development The proposed development site is located within the townlands of Kill of the Grange and Woodpark. The site tionts onto Pottery Road to the west; and the existing industrial facilities occupy the southern portion of the site. To the north and east are neighbouring fields associated with the nearby National Rehabilitation Hospital. The proposed development includes the construction of an expansion of the existing Pfizer Sterile Products Facility. This comprises three large buildings to the northeast of the present facility and a central utilities building and car park facilities to the northwest of the existing buildings. The remainder of the area is to be landscaped with the circumference of the development defined by a security fence. The site is perched on a low profiled terrace, on the southwest-facing slope of a north-south trending valley. The development footprint will comprise the expansion of the current site into two neighbouring fields and the use of current green areas and car park within the Pfizer complex for redevelopment. These fields consist of open pasture that appears to have gone uncultivated, to the northwest and northeast of the current plant. To the north the proposed development straddles the townlands boundary, evident as an earthen bank and hedgerow, between Woodpark and Kill of the Grange, this boundary continues southwards at which point it forms the eastern extent of the development. Refer to Figure 14.1. No recorded archaeological features have been noted within the boundary of the proposed site. However, the neighbouring Fortown inspection of Kill purposes of only.the Grange exhibits many characteristics of an Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. Early Chri&an foundation centring on the ecclesiastical remains of Kill Abbey (DUO23:015/01-11). The influence of this establishment permeates south of the present village in the form of the holy well and bush at Mackintosh Park (c. 160m southwest of proposed development). In this respect the proposed site can be placed within an extensive Early Christian landscape. The extent of the lands owned by the Augustinian Canons of the Priory of the Holy Trinity, in medieval times, highlights the continued interaction between foundation and outlying domains including the proposed site. Indeed the location of the proposed development remained associated with Kill of the Grange well into the nineteenth century until its incorporation into the adjoining demesnes of Belville and Woodpark. 14.3 Study Methodology 14.3.1 Introduction The study is based on an examination of the Record of Monuments and Places (RMP); constraints maps and files of the Archaeological Survey of Ireland (Appendix 14.1); the topographiTa1 files of the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) (Appendix 14.1); historical maps held by the Map Library of Trinity College, Dublin; the publication Excavations (which contains summary accounts of all excavations carried out annually in Ireland) for the period 1969-2000; the D&z Laoghaire-Rathdown Development Plan 1998 and the D3n Laoghaire- Rathdown Development Plan 2004-2010; and a number of other published and unpublished JK-12OO\C1235\(2) ~CUMENTS\IO\REPORTSWSUSSUE IWS REPORT-ISSUE page 134 Arup Consulting Engineers I-Cl235.lO.DOC Issue 1 7May2004 EPA Export 25-07-2013:17:52:58 For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. EPA Export 25-07-2013:17:52:58 Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals, Dti Laoghaire, Co. Dublin Aseptic Production Expansion EIS documentary sources detailed in the bibliography at the end of this chapter. An inspection of the proposed site was also undertaken on the afternoon of February 1 gtih, 2004. 14.3.2 Desktop Study Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) and Record of Monuments and Places (RMP) The primary sources of information on the field archaeology of the Republic of Ireland are the records of the Archaeological Survey of Ireland, undertaken by the National Monuments Section, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Between 1984 and 1992 the Sites and Monuments Record, lists of known monuments, were compiled based on documentary and cartographic sources, the records of the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) and Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) 1:30,000 vertical aerial photographs. The lists record the number of the monument, its location in the national grid and by townland, and its type. Following the passing of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act of 1994 a second list of monuments in the State was compiled. In accordance with the provisions of the Act a Record of Monuments and Places was compiled for each county between 1995 and 1998. Section 12 (3) of the 1994 Act provides a measure of protection for the monuments and places included in these lists. The Record of Monument and Places follows the same format as the Sites and Monuments Record. Topographical Files of the National Museum of Ireland The topographical files of the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) archive identify recorded stray finds that have been donated to the state in accordance with national monuments legislation (Appendix 14.2). Within the archive, finds are provenanced to townland, and in the majority of cases files include details on the location of and nature of the find, often obtained via correspondence between NM1 staff and finders of archaeological objects. where applicable, files also include early twentieth century reports of excavations undertaken by NM1 archaeologists subsequent to the find. Excavations Bulletins and Excavations Database For inspection purposes only. Excavations Bulletins Consentare annual of copyright bulletins, owner required now for funded any other use.by the National Monuments Section, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, which contains summary accounts of all excavations carried out annually in Ireland. The bulletins range from 1969 to 2000, and can now be accessed on the inter-net at www.excavations.ie. Compiled from the published excavation bulletins, the database contains summary accounts of all excavations carried out from 1985 to 2000. Both the bulletins and database were consulted to establish the results of excavations that may previously have been undertaken at sites or as a consequence of development in the vicinity of the proposed development footprint at Pottery Road. Cartographic sources Cartographic sources consulted include: l The Down Survey l Rocque’s Map 1760 l Taylor’s map 18 16 l Ordnance Survey maps lst, 2”d, and 3*d editions. I:\C4200\C1235\(2) DOCUMENTS\IOUtEPORTS\EISUSSUE 1WIS REPORT-ISSUE page l!yj Arup Consulting Engineers I-Cl235.1O.DOC Issue 1 7 May 2004 EPA Export 25-07-2013:17:52:58 Pfizer Ireland Phamaceuticak., D6n Laoghaire, Co. Dublin Aseptic Production Expansion EIS Maps were variously sourced in the map library of Trinity College, Dublin and the Archaeological Survey, The National Monuments Section, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, at 5 1 Saint Stephens Green, Dublin. 14.3.3 Field Inspection A non-invasive walkover field inspection of the site footprint was undertaken by two archaeologists in two phases; the most recent of which was conducted on the 1 9th February 2004. The purpose of field inspection is to assess current land use, local topography and any environmental information, including the nature of field divisions, relevant to the assessment of a proposed development. It is concerned primarily with identifying potential low-visibility archaeological and/or historical features that have not been previously recorded, and which may be subject to direct or indirect impacts as a result of development. The field inspection also seeks to address landscape potential by examining the possibility of interactions between a particular landscape type and past human activity, or between known monuments or sites. 14.4 The Receiving Environment 14.4.1 Architectural Heritage and Background Within the extent of the proposed site on Pottery Road no features of architectural merit have been recorded by the current record of protected structures (RPS) for the area in the D&z Laoghaire-Rathdown Development Plan 2004-2010. The nearest recorded protected structure to the proposed development is that of Somerton house located c.O.25kn-1 to the east of the site. Like the protected structures of Baker’s Cottage, Flowergrove and Kensington, it is situated along Rochestown Avenue, which converges with Pottery Road to the north of the proposed development, at Kill of the Grange. 14.4.2 Archaeological Background Prehistoric Period Perched on the south-western slope of a valley centrally positioned between the Irish Sea and For inspection purposes only. the dramatic backdrop Consentof the of copyrightDublinAVicklow owner required forMountains, any other use. a comprehensive understanding of the site’s archaeological context can only be achieved through an examination of its broader landscape setting. The valley setting of the site, its proximity to Cairn Hill (c 1.5km to the west of proposed site) and other sites would suggest the potential for activity in this area during prehistoric periods. Although evidence for early settlement in the environs of the proposed development area on Pottery Road is scant, it does exist. The earliest archaeological find recorded for the area consists of four worked flints (NM1 Ref. 1958:59-62), which were discovered in the walled garden of a house at Pairc na Coille on Rochestown Avenue, approximately 16Om northeast of the proposed site.