What is recorded here

Under the Edwardian house at No. 23 James Street, a circular well lined with mortared cobbles waits beneath the living city. It is only a metre across yet deep enough to hold medieval pottery and forgotten breath. The neighbourhood has built rooms, roads and memories above it, but the well remains the oldest steady point on the plot.

No. 23 James Street is on the corner of James’s Street and Tilbury Place 20m NW of St James's Gate on the town wall (KK019-026001-) of the Hightown of Kilkenny (Farrelly et al 1993, 11; Munby and Tyler (Oxford Archaeology) 2003, 82-3). The plot is fronted by a three-storey Edwardian house (NIAH 12000035) with modern extensions to the rear. Two archaeological excavations have been carried out on the plot. As well as medieval pits and deposits (KK 019-026191-), a burial (KK 019-026199-) and a smelting furnace (KK 019-026196-), test excavations by Paul Stevens (00E0730) identified a circular well (diam. 1.06m) lined with mortared cobbles (Stevens 2000, unpublished report; 2002, 177-8; 2006, 52-4). The feature was excavated to a depth of 0.65m and its fills produced Kilkenny-type medieval pottery. Compiled by: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil Date of upload: 3 November 2020

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