Watching Brief

Date 5 March 2001 - 6 March 2001

Event ID 1031790

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1031790

A watching brief was undertaken in March 2001 while contractors excavated a series of trial pits in and around the French prison. The purpose of the trial pits was to investigate the subsidence presently afflicting the W wall of the building. The pits were dug at various strategic points in order to determine the nature of the underlying deposits, as well as checking the strength of the foundations.

In total, the evidence from the pits regarding the stability of the French prison masonry revealed that the long E wall of the building is built directly on bedrock while the W frontage sits on and within a soft fairly wet sludgy silt. The result of this positioning is an inevitable settlement of the W side of the structure.

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

G Ewart and A Dunn 2001

Kirkdale Archaeology