[Article] Campaign starts to save Viking site

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/3991487?view=Eircomnet

Campaign starts to save Viking site
From:ireland.com
Monday, 13th September, 2004

A campaign to save the Woodstown Viking site outside Waterford city will be launched at a public meeting this week.

Speakers will include the local historian and writer, Mr Jack O'Neill of the Waterford Historical and Literary Society and Dublin-based archaeologist, Ms Paula Geraghty.

The site was discovered during preparations for the city's bypass in May.

At the time, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen said the site, which dates from the ninth century, was of "enormous importance internationally" and had already yielded some "quite extraordinary" finds, including lead weights and gaming pieces.

Archaeologists and environmentalists have been calling for a complete excavation of the Woodstown site since it was discovered but until now its fate has been uncertain.

The National Roads Authority has preserved an area of about 100 square metres near the river-bank for excavation.

Last May, Mr John Maas, an archaeologist who commissioned a flight to take photographs said crop marks suggested a large town predating Waterford city was located in the area.

The pictures indicated that the settlement extended along the riverbank, thereby strengthening the case for a wider excavation.

Archaeologists commissioned by the National Roads Authority, said at a conference this month that Woodstown one of the most important Viking sites in Europe.

The public meeting will take place at the Granville Hotel, Waterford, on Thursday, September 16th, at 8.00 p.m.

Victor

Photo of part of the site. Note that the railway appears to be in good order.

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/1019/waterford.html

Roche to receive report on Viking site
19 October 2004 19:50

The Minister for the Environment is expected to receive a final report within the next two weeks on what should be done with the controversial Waterford City bypass.

The National Roads Authority has confirmed that €8 million that was to have been spent on the project this year will now be diverted to other projects around the country.

The €400m project is being delayed by uncertainty surrounding what is going to happen to the Viking settlement that was uncovered on the proposed route on the banks of the Suir.

The bypass was due to start this year but will not now start until next year at the earliest.

RTÉ News understands that it will cost in the region of €10 million to fully excavate the site, if that is what the new Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, decides.

Archaeologists say the Viking site could be one of the most important such sites remaining in Europe.

The National Roads Authority was to spend €28 million on the road project this year.

Of this, €20 million is to be spent on giving compensation to landowners, with the remaining €8 million diverted to other projects.

The NRA said the bypass remains a very important project for the authority that will be started as soon as it knows what the Department of the Environment decides to do with the Viking settlement.

loyatemu

Note that the railway appears to be in good order.

is that not the Kilmeaden narrow-guage line?
in which case it is still in use.

mike65

Yeah it is, the old line (which was also in good condition) was dug up and replaced by the narrow-gauge jobbie.

Given that the site is proberly the "first" waterford and possibly the oldest Danish settlement in the country AD 850-870, it'll proberly end up being preserved so the road will have to be re-routed so years added to our traffic hell.

Mike.

narommy

I doubt that there will ba any rerouting.

It would be seen as giving in to environmentalists which is one thing the government can't do. It takes so long to get anything done in this country that that they need to make protesters feel that their cause is futile.

If they gave in to them then Tara and Carrickmines would be up in the air again too. It's not going to happen. (Unless the EU gets involved)

I think that major roadways should be put through the most "significant" archelogical sites in the country........that way people will be bothered with them and they will be excavated and we will find out what's down there.

Otherwise who is going to pay €50m to do it???? :mad:

sorry €10 million but the total will be over €50m for waterford, tara, and carrickmines alone.What a waste. I wonder how much has been spent on archelogy in the past 5 years??