Watching Brief

Date 23 June 2021 - 2 July 2021

Event ID 1164827

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1164827

HY 44904 10866 ORCA Archaeology undertook a watching brief during access improvement works at the west vestibule of St Magnus cathedral. The cathedral is a category A listed building (LB36668) located in the centre of Kirkwall, Orkney.

The monitored works revealed an anticipated, complex picture of multiple earlier phases of activity in the cathedral. The earliest features exposed were the two sections of walling which are likely to be the foundations for the thirteenth-century west door. Subsequent levelling deposits (one including human remains), a former surface or foundation layer together with evidence for previous disturbance of deposits attest to frequent remodelling and changes in the way the space has been used in subsequent centuries.

No further intrusive work is anticipated as part of the development. The human remains were covered and protected prior to the laying of concrete at the base of the excavation.

Information from Orkney Centre for Archaeology (ORCA).