Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Assessment
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ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE ASSESSMENT Report Archaeological and cultural heritage assessment Project Carlingford Lough Greenway Section Victoria Lock-NI/ROI Border Date 31/07/2019 Carlingford Lough Greenway Contents 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Background .............................................................................................................................. 4 1.2 Development Site .................................................................................................................... 4 2 Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Planning Guidelines ................................................................................................................. 5 2.2 Report Methodology ............................................................................................................... 5 2.3 Impact Assessment Methodology ........................................................................................... 6 2.3.1 Types of Impact ............................................................................................................... 6 2.3.2 Definitions for Assessment of Magnitude of Change ...................................................... 7 2.3.3 Definitions for the Assessment of Significance ............................................................... 7 3 Archaeological and Historical Baseline............................................................................................ 8 3.1 Cultural heritage assets within the development area. .......................................................... 8 3.1.1 Desk top study ................................................................................................................. 8 3.1.2 Site inspection ............................................................................................................... 10 3.2 Cultural heritage assets beyond the development area. ...................................................... 10 3.2.1 Sites and Monuments Records ...................................................................................... 10 3.2.2 Industrial Heritage Records. .......................................................................................... 11 3.2.3 Historic Buildings ........................................................................................................... 11 3.2.4 Historic Gardens ............................................................................................................ 11 3.2.5 Defence Heritage Sites. ................................................................................................. 11 3.2.6 Early Edition OS Maps ................................................................................................... 11 3.2.7 Excavations Database .................................................................................................... 11 4 Impact Assessment ........................................................................................................................ 11 4.1 Assessment of Environmental Impact of Construction Phase .............................................. 11 4.2 Assessment of Environmental Impact of Operational Phase ................................................ 12 5 Mitigation and Its Effectiveness .................................................................................................... 13 5.1 Cumulative Effects ................................................................................................................. 14 5.2 Residual Effects ..................................................................................................................... 14 6 Statement of Significance of Effect ............................................................................................... 14 2 Carlingford Lough Greenway Figures Figure 1: location of proposed greenway route. ................................................................................... 15 Figure 2: layout of proposed greenway route through Victoria Lock Amenity site. ............................. 16 Figure 3: known cultural heritage assets within 250m of the proposed greenway route. ................... 17 Figure 4: 1 st edition OS map showing approximate layout of proposed greenway route. ................... 18 Figure 5: 2 nd edition OS map showing approximate layout of proposed greenway route. .................. 19 Figure 6: 3 rd edition OS map showing approximate layout of proposed greenway route. ................... 20 3 Carlingford Lough Greenway 1 Introduction 1.1 Background Louth County Council (LCC) in association with Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (NMD) propose to develop the Carlingford Lough Greenway which is a cross border greenway linking existing elements of a trail joining Carlingford within the Republic of Ireland (RoI) to Newry City within Northern Ireland (NI). The greenway when completed will form part of the wider ‘Great Eastern Greenway’ from Belfast to Dublin. It will operate as a shared off-road cycleway / walkway and aims to provide a scenic cross- border route to encourage more people to walk and cycle and undertake cross-border journeys. The greenway will comprise an approximate corridor of 5-6m along the route comprising a 3m greenway, 0.5-1m wide v-ditch to provide drainage along the route, and boundary fences offset 500mm from the edge of the greenway. The proposed greenway will be a continuation of existing stretches of greenway which begin at Carlingford Marina and run to Omeath Pier (construction completed in 2013) and from the Victoria Lock Amenity Site along the Middle Bank to the Albert Basin (construction completed in 2018). The proposed new Carlingford Greenway comprises three sections to fill in the gaps in the existing greenway as follows: • From Carlingford Town to Carlingford Marina ( • From Omeath Pier to the NI / RoI Border • From the NI / RoI Border to Victoria Lock Amenity Site This report forms an archaeological and cultural heritage assessment of the section extending from Victoria Lock Amenity Site to the NI / ROI border (figure 1). It describes the archaeological baseline of the site and the surrounding area and assesses the potential impact that the proposed greenway could have on the archaeological and architectural heritage in the vicinity. 1.2 Development Site The site being considered within this report is located adjacent to the R173 Fathom Line from County Bridge at the border of NI (County Down) and RoI (County Louth) along the Fathom Line and includes part of the area within the Victoria Lock Car-Park and Amenity Site (figure 2). 4 Carlingford Lough Greenway 2 Methodology 2.1 Planning Guidelines This cultural heritage assessment was undertaken using the planning guidelines as set out in The Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland (“SPPS”). The Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland (“SPPS”) was adopted in September 2015 and is intended to provide core principles to underpin the delivery of the new two-tier planning system that was introduced in April 2015 whereby new local councils will develop Local Development Plans and will have primary responsibility for the implementation of local planning policy, development control and planning enforcement, with the exception of regionally significant developments where responsibility will remain with the Department of the Environment. It consolidates 25 previous Planning Policy Statements (PPSs) and sets out strategic subject policies on a wide range of planning matters in accordance with the ‘Regional Development Strategy 2035’. However, for the transitional period during which time the new councils are preparing Local Development Plans, 22 of the PPSs, supplementary and best practice guidance will remain in place. For archaeology, the relevant document remains Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 6, Planning, Archaeology and the Built Heritage. This document sets out the planning policies relating to the protection and conservation of archaeological remains and features of the built heritage. 2.2 Report Methodology This cultural heritage impact assessment was conducted in three stages. Firstly a detailed desktop survey was undertaken. This was achieved using published data available online from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency Historic Monuments Unit Sites and Monuments Record (NIEA HMU SMR) as well as cartographic material available from the Public Records Office Northern Ireland (PRONI) and topographic databases held by the National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI). This entailed a review of the Sites and Monuments Records, the Industrial Archaeological Records, the Historic Buildings Archive, and the Defence Heritage Records, which are maintained by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. The desk top survey extended out t o250m either side of the centre line of the proposed greenway, Secondly, a detailed inspection of the development area was undertaken. The purpose of this was to identify and assess any surviving remains of known and previously unknown, upstanding cultural heritage assets and to provide an assessment as to the archaeological potential of the area. Finally, the information provided by these two components was assessed in relation to the potential impact of the proposed amendments