Publication Account

Date 2000

Event ID 1032435

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1032435

NS 9819 8050 The Ditch was detected running on a E-W alignment. It lay below a later cobbled path and was therefore located with some difficulty. The Ditch had a width of c.7.5m, and was only excavated to a depth of 0.6m. The exposed fills consisted of a series of clayey silts and silty clays, suggesting natural silting rather than deliberate backfilling. About 1.7m N of the Ditch, a slight bank some 9.8m wide was present, and is probably the remains of the Outer Mound.

The proposed second line of the Ditch, suggested by previous writers (Robertson 1990; Bailey 1996), was not identified. Although the trench extended c.20m to the S of the E-W Ditch neither the Rampart nor any other associated Roman features were present within the trench.

NS 9813 8050 The Ditch was located on an E-W alignment. It had a surface width of c.8m. A small section was excavated into its N side, revealing its edge to be steep-sided. No trace of the Rampart survived. Two small negative features were located in the area of the Berm,. These were not excavated. They may be 'defensive pits' such as those found at Callendar Park (Bailey 1995) and Inveravon (Dunwell and Ralston 1995), however extensive excavation would need to confirm this.

The results of this excavation suggest that the large hollow excavated by Bailey (1996) within the walled garden of Kinneil House is not the re-entrant angle of a proposed divergent line of the Ditch. Given its position to the S of Kinneil House, it may represent a defensive feature related to the Palace of Kinneil and enclosing it on its eastern side. Alternatively, it could represent the remains of a defensive ditch from the proposed Roman fort at Kinneil (Hanson and Maxwell 1983)

B Glendinning 2000

G B Bailey 1995, 1996; A Dunwell and I Ralston 1995; W S Hanson and G S Maxwell 1983; A S Robertson 1990.

NS98SE RRX505 986 807