Watching Brief

Date 9 December 1999

Event ID 1030490

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1030490

A watching brief was conducted in the Nave at Dunblane Cathedral, Stirlingshire. The brief was to record the excavation of square hole, with a deeper area in the centre, for the placement of a memorial stone. The hole was in the centre of the third bay from the W of the S arcade of the nave, between the centre and S aisles.

Nothing of great significance was disturbed by the excavations. Apart from the basal deposit, all of the features removed date from the late 19th-century renovation of the nave. The compacted deposit of dark grey-brown sandy material, with 19th-century ceramics, probably reflects the disturbance caused by the ground preparation for the late 19th-century building works, compacted by the process of construction. The monuments around the nave show that, prior to the Reformation, it was used for the burial of notable people, as was usual (Fawcett 1997; 81). After the 1560, the ruined nave was used as part of the parish burying ground, described in 1586 as ‘full of modern gravestones’ (Dennison & Coleman 1997; 40). An early 19th-century print shows neglected headstones in the nave (Miller & Lusk 1993; 18). A photograph from the second half of the 19th century shows only flat grave slabs, still visible in the floor, with a wide well-worn path down the centre of the nave, grassed to either side (Dennison & Coleman 1997; 21, fig 10). Therefore, it is useless to speculate on the date of the burials disturbed by the 19th-century works, resulting in the broken bones found during the watching brief. The other finds give a glimpse of the kind of building materials used at the cathedral, including roof slate, sandstone flags, glazed floor tiles and clear spun window glass.

Nothing of significance was disturbed by the work. It is clear that the 19th-century renovations disturbed burial deposits, but no material dating earlier then the 19th century was found in situ.

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

P Sharman 1999

Kirkdale Archaeology