Excavation

Date 18 November 2002 - 6 December 2002

Event ID 1034294

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1034294

Under the terms of its P.I.C. call-out contract with Historic Scotland, Kirkdale Archaeology was asked to undertake archaeological monitoring and recording of a trench excavated by MCU personnel within the confines of the Outer Courtyard. The trench was located near the SW corner of the custodian’s cottage (Fig. 1).

The purpose of the works was to solve a water seepage problem. The custodian’s cottage, which is built into the E wall of the Outer Courtyard, suffers from periodic minor flooding which is believed to be caused by rain percolating off the grassed courtyard through the broken granite substrata beneath the E wall. This was to be investigated and dealt with by cutting a trench along the base of the wall at the point where the E wall of the courtyard merged into the structure of the cottage. A pipe would then be put in to direct the water to a sunken cobbled area running the length of the W side of the cottage and lying approximately 1.00m below the general courtyard level.

The E wall sits on a mass of broken bedrock which probably cannot be easily sealed off. In addition, the 900mm width of the E wall may itself be a conduit for the offending water. Putting a drain into the fabric of the courtyard against the base of the E wall seems likely to be the best option.

G Ewart 2002

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

Kirkdale Archaeology