Watching Brief

Date 2 August 2000

Event ID 1029986

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1029986

Archaeological monitoring was required at Linlithgow Palace on the 2nd of August during the excavation of a trench for the purpose of planting a new tree.

The site of the work was to the E of St Michael’s Church, on a terraced area believed to contain a 15th-century access route leading up to the E side of Linlithgow Palace. The tree hole was dug at the intersection of two modern footpaths running N-S along the central part of the terrace. It was thought possible that the position of the new tree might interrupt the line of the old access road. Consequently the hole for the tree was dug wide enough and deep enough to allow a clear view of any sub-surface features that might be found within the area of the excavation.

The excavation did not find any definitive evidence of a substantial road or track. The layers seem to comprise modern topsoil landscaping [100] sealing what looks very much like a [?19th-century] footpath [101] which in turns lies over a thick layer of sandy sub soil [102]. Presumably the access route to the James I entrance on the E side of the Palace would have been a reasonably solid structure reflecting the importance of the site. No such structure was either seen or indicated by the evidence from this minor excavation. Either the route lies further E, nearer the edge of the terrace, or the road has been landscaped away or possibly buried under later levelling material.

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

D Stewart 2000

Kirkdale Archaeology