Watching Brief

Date 18 November 1997

Event ID 1031801

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1031801

Kirkdale Archaeology were asked to inspect and record a trench already excavated by the Historic Scotland squad, to the S. W. of the abbey, next to the toilets, the provision of access for which was the reason for the excavation. A number of architectural fragments and hand made floor tiles had been reported from this trench.

A surprisingly long sequence was observed in this trench. Unfortunately the artefacts were from a fairly modern horizon, with (004) sealing surface (005), and probably providing a foundation for surface (001), likely to be related to the construction of the toilet block. Cobbles (005), themselves resurfaced in Tarmac, and so at least exposed into modern times, post date wall (012). As they directly sealed probable wall construction cut (007), this surface may have been built shortly after this wall was constructed. (008), (009), (010) and (011), all apparently post dating wall (013), may represent dumps of levelling material.

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

G Ewart 1997

Kirkdale Archaeology