Watching Brief

Date 3 December 2014 - 4 December 2014

Event ID 1034561

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1034561

Under the terms of its PIC call-off contract with Historic Scotland, Kirkdale Archaeology was asked monitor the excavation of six test trenches in order to determine the most suitable location for a new septic tank serving the castle’s public toilets (Figure 1). The trenches were located to the north of the modern road, on the wooded slopes leading down to the south bank of the River Deveron. Although the area to be investigated lay outwith the official scheduled area, it was considered to have archaeological potential due to its proximity to the structures forming the north part of the castle enclosure and bailey.

The trenches were excavated initially with a mechanical digger and then, where necessary, manually by the MCU under archaeological supervision.

Nothing of archaeological interest was recovered during the test trenching and the fills were noticeably clean and free of any artefacts. However, the location of the test trenches is close enough to the northern structures of the castle to warrant monitoring during future ground-breaking works in this locale.

G Ewart 2014

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

Kirkdale Archaeology