Watching Brief

Date 7 March 2005

Event ID 1036492

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1036492

A watching brief was undertaken at St Nicholas Church in March 2005 during the excavation of four post-holes, part of a programme of restorative works on and around the Morton Monument, an ancient memorial structure situated in the ruinous 15th-century choir of the old Collegiate Church. The post-holes were intended to hold the supports for a protective canopy over the newly restored monument.

At the time of the excavations the main part of the monument was off-site undergoing restoration, leaving only a large foundation slab in situ. The new post-holes, all of which would measure 400mm square by 500mm deep, were positioned at the four corners of the foundation structure.

The material below the monument slab was excavated in 1963 prior to the laying of a new floor and foundation slab, which may account for the layer of concrete seen 350mm down in two of the trenches, suggesting that this material only lay between the foundation slab and the S wall. Additionally, the lack of human remains, other than a few small fragments, may indicate the scale of the clearance work here 40 years ago.

D Stewart 2005

Sponsor: Kenneth Ferguson & Partners.

Kirkdale Archaeology