Watching Brief

Date 28 November 1997

Event ID 1032207

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1032207

Kirkdale Archaeology were asked to oversee the excavation of an electricity trench outside Craigmillar castle. The trench was to be c. 75 m long, and was to run from the tower in the NE of the curtain wall Eastwards, along the S side of the existing road, towards the castle's ticket office.

The trench was machine excavated, except for two short stretches - one beside the castle, and the other next to the ticket office where an existing electricity cable lay. Before excavation it was apparent that the castle sits on the crest of a ridge, with the ground beginning to fall away some 40 m to the E of the castle. Bedrock, a red sandstone, appeared through the turf in places.

The fine grey silt overlying the area is seen as probably representing nineteenth or twentieth century deposits, probably introduced deliberately as levelling material - the large stones present make an agricultural or garden soil unlikely. The stone and concrete structure could not be interpreted with any confidence. The sandstone deposit noted some 40 cm down near the sixteenth century N.E tower of the castle may relate to this tower, but was not physically related to it in this trench. The overall shallowness of soil cover was notable.

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

G Ewart 1997

Kirkdale Archaeology