Margaret Gowen & Company acted as archaeological and historical architectural consultants for the proposed development in Spencer Dock. What follows is a brief historical and archaeological background to the area.
Prehistoric Activity The Spencer Dock site lies over 1.5 km downstream of the medieval city in an area that was natural slob lands until the early eighteenth century (Bernard de Gomme 1673?). Pre-eighteenth-century archaeological activity (if any) would be of an intertidal nature. Wooden or brushwood tracks may have provided access to the waterfront or facilitated access across the slobs, riverside fish traps and fish weirs could have been in use in this location from prehistory through medieval times.
Eighteenth-Century Development The first known development on the site was the insertion of piles into the mud to strengthen the ground in advance of the reclamation of the waterfront slob lands and to support the construction of the first earthen and gabioned river wall, which bounded the North Lots some time after 1710. It is possible that the remains of the first wall survive behind the current North Wall Quay, and it is likely that at least some of the piles used to consolidate the ground survive in situ. These developments are first illustrated on maps made by Bolton (1717), Brooking (1728, at which time the area was still subject to flooding) and Rocque (1756). The Lots were laid out to accommodate potential residential and small-scale commercial development, typical of development in other Georgian estates, along the river front. The later lease holdings to the north were created for different, industrial uses. The development of the largely residential eighteenth-century lease holdings created by the Gardiner Estate never reached further than the North Circular Road, as economic decline and political change significantly altered the pace of Dublin's development north of the river.
Construction on the Royal Canal commenced after 1789 and continued sporadically for a number of years before the link with the river was made.
The present North Wall Quay was not built until 1860, but the prior presence of a sea wall of gabions supported reclamation efforts, assisted by pile driving (with wooden piles) to consolidate the ground.
Subsequent development was piecemeal and largely industrial and commercial in nature. Ultimately, the site was to be dominated by the construction of the railway and the associated buildings that served it in the nineteenth century. The buildings completed by 1876 largely survive on the site.
The Former British Rail Hotel In 1867, the Midland and Great Western Railway began developing the railway, extending it around 1873, when it was formally opened by the then viceroy, Lord Spencer. In 1883, the increase in traffic between the ferry and the railway led to the replacement of an existing hotel called the Prince of Wales with a new hotel called the Northwest Hotel, which served both sets of passengers. The original structure was built prior to 1866 but is not recorded on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey, published in 1847 (surveyed in 1838). Stylistically, the building appears to date to after 1850. The former hotel building was demolished to make way for the construction of a new, ornate façade for the so-called British Rail Hotel (the current building on the site). The hotel was occupied by British officers during the War of Independence and, according to local folklore, was a frequent target of the IRA. It became known as the British Rail Hotel after the nationalisation of the railways but had ceased to be a hotel in the 1920s. It now houses offices of Iarnród Éireann. Its historical associations provide a link to an era when travel between Ireland and Britain was a more difficult and time-consuming undertaking than it is today. Its association with the British Army is an interesting sideline of greater complexity that may deserve further research.
The Iarnród Éireann Freight Offices
The Iarnród Éireann freight offices are housed in the former London and North Western Railway Company passenger terminus--the North Wall Station--which was built sometime after 1890 but before 1907. Despite the station's conversion for freight usage after the First World War, there are many indications of its previous function, lending the building a certain character that it otherwise might lack. Like the former British Rail Hotel, the former North Wall Station is another building that is unknown to most Dubliners. It is even less visible from the opposite bank of the river than its neighbour. The effect of the facade is increased by the knowledge that a deserted railway station lies behind it, albeit in an almost ruinous state. The large empty spaces underneath the steel girders, braces and trusses, which still appear to be in good condition, remain impressive. As is the case with any building of a certain antiquity, historical associations are difficult to avoid. Apart from the role the station has played in the history of Irish transport, there is a more poignant association with the First World War: For many of those who joined the British Army during that period, it was the last Dublin building they passed through on their way to the trenches.
The Wool Store The Wool Store has an imposing presence on the western side of the original Wapping Street. It was constructed between 1847 and 1864 and was therefore probably built as a port facility, immediately prior to the coming of the railway. It was subsequently incorporated into the London and North Western Railway Company's North Wall Station, although it was never directly accessible from the railway sidings. In the 1940s, it was referred to as the Wool Warehouse Stable, and it has been derelict since the early 1980s.
Campion's Bar Campion's Bar, at 47 North Wall Quay, along with its neighbour to the west, the former Kilmartin's Turf Accountants at Number 46, are the only surviving buildings on the Spencer Dock development site that appear on the 1837 Ordnance Survey map. An initial inspection of Number 47 would suggest that the building, in its primary state, may be considerably earlier, possibly mid-eighteenth century in date, and thus belong possibly to the first phase of building on the North Lotts. Historical research undertaken for the EIS has established ownership and occupation of the building from 1834. The plot had been originally allocated to Mathew Brownlow and Thomas Wilkinson in 1717. In 1839a Matthew Jones established himself in the building as a provisions dealer. He was to remain there until 1866, opening the Falmouth Hotel on the premises by 1847, renaming it the Chester and Holyhead Hotel in the 1850s. Griffith's Tenement Valuation published in May 1854 records Jones's occupation and indicates that he continued to lease Number 47 from Robert McKenna (in residence next door at Number 46). The property consisted of a house and small yard and had an annual valuation of £35.0.0.
The building's footprint has remained constant since 1837 and can be examined in more detail on the larger scale maps. Between 1864 and 1907, the carriageway that ran underneath the westernmost of the three bays was closed up, presumably to provide more space for the public house. While the fittings and the joinery in the upper floor spaces are of the mid-nineteenth century, when the building was in use as a tavern, its plan would suggest that it possibly started life as a domestic residence. Although 47 North Wall Quay would appear to be one of the earliest buildings surviving on the North Lotts, it is unlikely that much of its primary structure survives beyond its cellar and its plan. Nevertheless, the public house on the ground floor is a rare example of a nineteenth/early twentieth-century bar that has been able to withstand commercial pressures to modernise unduly. Unfortunately, the streetscape value of the building has been eroded by the neighbouring dereliction, which has been an on-going process since the 1950s.
hen viceroy, Lord Spencer. In 1883, the increase in traffic between the ferry and the railway led to the replacement of an existing hotel called the Prince of Wales with a new hotel called the Northwest Hotel, which served both sets of passengers. The original structure was built prior to 1866 but is not recorded on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey, published in 1847 (surveyed in 1838). Stylistically, the building appears to date to after 1850. The former hotel building was demolished to make way for the construction of a new, ornate façade for the so-called British Rail Hotel (the current building on the site). The hotel was occupied by British officers during the War of Independence and, according to local folklore, was a frequent target of the IRA. It became known as the British Rail Hotel after the nationalisation of the railways but had ceased to be a hotel in the 1920s. It now houses offices of Iarnród Éireann. Its historical associations provide a link to an era when travel between Ireland and Britain was a more difficult and time-consuming undertaking than it is today. Its association with the British Army is an interesting sideline of greater complexity that may deserve further research. 
The Iarnród Éireann freight offices are housed in the former London and North Western Railway Company passenger terminus--the North Wall Station--which was built sometime after 1890 but before 1907. Despite the station's conversion for freight usage after the First World War, there are many indications of its previous function, lending the building a certain character that it otherwise might lack. Like the former British Rail Hotel, the former North Wall Station is another building that is unknown to most Dubliners. It is even less visible from the opposite bank of the river than its neighbour. The effect of the facade is increased by the knowledge that a deserted railway station lies behind it, albeit in an almost ruinous state. The large empty spaces underneath the steel girders, braces and trusses, which still appear to be in good condition, remain impressive. As is the case with any building of a certain antiquity, historical associations are difficult to avoid. Apart from the role the station has played in the history of Irish transport, there is a more poignant association with the First World War: For many of those who joined the British Army during that period, it was the last Dublin building they passed through on their way to the trenches. 
The Wool Store has an imposing presence on the western side of the original Wapping Street. It was constructed between 1847 and 1864 and was therefore probably built as a port facility, immediately prior to the coming of the railway. It was subsequently incorporated into the London and North Western Railway Company's North Wall Station, although it was never directly accessible from the railway sidings. In the 1940s, it was referred to as the Wool Warehouse Stable, and it has been derelict since the early 1980s.