Excavation

Date 2007

Event ID 557685

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/557685

NO 358 246 Alexander II and his mother, Ermengarde, founded Balmerino Abbey, a daughter house of the Cistercian Abbey of Melrose, in 1229. Like Melrose, the conventual buildings were laid out to the N of the abbey church but only remnants of its E range and even less of its church now stand above ground. Nothing is now visible of the abbey's N and W ranges. Parts of the E range were converted into residential accommodation following the abbey's dissolution and sometime later a farm was built over the N side of the abbey. On the

evidence of a date stone set into a cart shed, it has been assumed that the farm dates from the mid-19th century although a study of the farm buildings, together with the findings from excavation suggest that the farm might be considerably older. In the mid- 1990s a proposal to convert the farm steading to residential

accommodation prompted the excavation of a series of trenches to coincide with the service trenches for the redevelopment (DES 1996, 45). The project foundered thereafter but was revived in 2006-7 when more service trenches, as well as larger areas, were excavated. The findings from both seasons were significant. The remains of substantial walls on the S side of the farm provided clear evidence that the abbey's E range had

once extended well beyond its present N limit. The great drain, which ran northwards from the E range, was exposed in 1996 and again in 2006-7 when some of its large roofing slabs were removed. It was built of sandstone rubble on a base course of reused ashlar, indicating that it was not an original abbey feature. The drain also cut through the foundations of a small masonry building nearby, again confirming the feature's secondary nature. Several other box drains, as well as a possible precursor of the great drain, were uncovered around this part of the steading. One of the extant buildings on the N side of the farm was almost certainly a monastic structure. It is often referred to as the 'barn' but this was almost certainly not its original function, being more probably an abbot's house. From its architecture, it could date from any time between the 13th and early 16th centuries. At the E end of the building were the remains of a kiln that had been used for lime burning, at least in its final manifestation. Elsewhere in the 'barn' were traces of a flagged floor and a wall that predated the building. The stump of a wall extending southwards from the SW corner of the building might have linked with the N or W range, although it was difficult to extrapolate its alignment from the scant remains. Remnants of several other walls were uncovered throughout the site, some of them probably medieval and others perhaps the remains of earlier farm buildings.

In 1996 an area of well constructed cobbling was uncovered at the N end of the steading and interpreted as a road. However, in 2006-7 it was clear that the metalling extended over a wider area than originally thought and it is now presumed to be part of a monastic yard.

Archive deposited with RCAHMS.

Funder: Country Property Developments Limited.

J Lewis 2007