What is recorded here

On a steep south-facing slope above the River Blackwater in Derver, a shallow hearth still holds orange-brown burnt clay beneath dark charcoal-streaked soil. The heat that made it may have warmed a kitchen, cooked food or marked a boundary, but no artefact survived to say which. The M3 works opened that small area in 2007, and the hearth emerged plain enough to measure yet silent enough to withhold its owner.

Located on a steep S-facing slope of the River Blackwater valley, with a WNW-ESE section of the stream c. 200m to the S. Archaeological testing (04E1060) by D. Bayley (2005) at Testing Area 9 of Contract 5 of the M3 motorway identified archaeological features in a limited area that was completely excavated (E003185) by S. Rathbone in January 2007 (excavations.ie 2007:1296) as Derver 3. It consisted of a single shallow hearth (dims 1.46m x 1.04m; D 0.08m) with a primary fill of a firm, orange-brown, burnt sandy clay with occasional stones beneath a soft black-grey, sandy clay with occasional stones and frequent charcoal inclusions. No artefacts were recovered and no radiocarbon date is available. (Rathbone and Ginn 2008) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 3 March 2022

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.