Excavation

Date 1 November 1993 - 20 May 1994

Event ID 1034089

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1034089

NH 759 567 An extended programme of excavation, watching

brief and survey was completed on the Point Battery {the western

extremity of the fort). In order to waterproof the three vaulted

structures buried within the thickness of the main rampart, the earthwork itself was removed over the buildings.

After trial excavations in November 1993 and a watching brief in

January 1994, the main programme of work carried on until May

1994 with intermittent archaeological input. This entailed the

recording of all elements of those gun platforms, reverting wall, flues, drains, as well as the earthworks themselves {parapet, firing step and main rampart), which had to be removed in advance of the

repair work.

Evidence was discovered of the Point 'Pepper Pot' and associated

passage which was damaged by a 19th-century gun setting along

with detailed information of the construction of other parts of the

18th-century layout. The primary gun platforms were of slab stone

construction over sloping mortar footings. The brick-faced parapet

was built directly on to the wide stone wall which forms the outer

face of the main rampart. The firing step and main fill of the rampart

behind these revetting elements, was of extremely solid construction,

comprising a series of rolled gravels and sand deposits to

a depth of over 6m. The tops of the vaults themselves were in turn

found to be sealed by a combined deposit of clay and pitch soaked

gravelly sand forming a waterproof layer of a high quality only

breached by later drainage features.

G Ewart 1994

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

Kirkdale Archaeology