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Excavation

Date March 2007 - September 2007

Event ID 558129

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/558129

ND 3779 5490 Excavation of the North Range of the Outer Bailey courtyard was completed in March 2007. Previously identified as a West Tower and Central Range, the structure was found to comprise a single, two-storey building with three rooms at ground level. These were served by a series of garderobes, which issued directly into the sea to the N, and fireplaces. The ground floor of the North Range is now thought to represent a

service area. A staircase was identified in the northern corner of the courtyard, which would have provided access to the first floor of the North Range.

During August and September of 2007, an archaeological excavation and watching brief were carried out before and during, the construction of a new path and bridge to provide pedestrian access into the castle. The work encountered a number of stonebuilt structures associated with the West Barbican and West

Gatehouse of the castle. In the area of the West Barbican, a paved surface (F11) and overlying wall (F7), initially identified during evaluation, were further exposed, revealing the eroded, NE extent of these features where they had collapsed into the dry moat. Although this surface is known to be later than the original West Barbican building, it could relate to the latest phase of use of the castle, representing part of a formal path leading from

the West Barbican area, down into the dry moat to the South Barbican area.

At the eastern end of the new access path, a substantial area of cobbled surface (F120) was encountered, forming part of a metalled road aligned NEE/SWW. This might have been the original access road to the castle, although no secure dating evidence was recovered. A further slabbed surface (F121) was also encountered, running roughly parallel to the slope of the moat. This feature would appear to represent the continuation of F11, indicating that the slab path also continued to the SE, possibly joining the metalled road represented by F120.

Next to the West Gatehouse, a small length of wall was encountered, representing the lower courses of the SE wall of the gatehouse passage, which would originally have projected into the moat. This would suggest that the front (W) elevation of the gatehouse projected further into the moat than the surviving fabric would suggest.

Post-excavation work is ongoing, and a report is to be deposited with RCAHMS.

Funder: Clan Sinclair Trust.

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