Excavation

Date 21 June 2004 - 23 June 2004

Event ID 1034347

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1034347

NH 764 569 An archaeological evaluation was undertaken in June 2004 of a rarely seen part of the fort defences located on the N beach between the high and low water marks. The structure is the channel and tunnel of the sluice believed to have been designed to allow the main moat to be flooded for defensive purposes. The structure appears to be mostly intact, undoubtedly the result of the quality of materials used in its build, and appears to be contemporary with the original construction of the fort. The difference in height between the floor of the sluice and the existing floor of the moat (1.4m) suggests that the moat would only have had a shallow layer of water, and that only achieved at very high tides. However, a 1796 plan clearly shows a ditch dug along the central line of the moat and linking up at the sluice at both ends.This may well indicate that a narrow, but deep, water-filled channel within the moat may be all that ever flooded. Without excavating the deposits in the moat it is not possible to ascertain the original level of the channel.

C Shaw and D Stewart 2004

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

Kirkdale Archaeology