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Standing Building Recording
Date 5 March 2008 - 22 September 2008
Event ID 579076
Category Recording
Type Standing Building Recording
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/579076
NS 7899 9403 As part of works in advance of the restoration works in the Palace various standing building surveys were completed between 5 March–22 September 2008. These surveys built upon and added to work undertaken between 2003 and 2007. The surveys were:
SCPP-2008-01 – Recording of fireplace hearths – Before restoration work began the hearthstones of the fireplaces in the principal rooms of the Palace were removed. These hearthstones were known to be early and mid-20th-century replacements. The opportunity was taken to record any surviving original fireplace features. It is apparent that the original fabrics of the 1540 hearths have been destroyed or seriously truncated over time with the main damage coming from the insertion of the large Caithness slabs in the 20th century. It seems that the original form of the fireplaces was a mortared platform of sandstone carrying the uprights, with a further platform internally onto which the flat sandstone hearth slabs could bed.
SCPP-2008-05 – Recording of a fallen sash window – In July 2008 one of the large sash windows in the S wall of the Queen’s Inner Hall collapsed into the Palace and suffered some damage. This gave the opportunity to record both the window and the surrounding aperture in detail. The window, previously assumed to be of possible 17th- or 18th-century date was shown to be an early 20th-century replacement with cast iron sash weights.
SCPP-2008-08 – Recording of recently stripped walls in the Princes Tower – The two remaining unstripped walls in the first floor of the Princes Tower were stripped of plaster in 2008. Before re-pointing these walls were recorded to the same standard as the recording in 2004 and 2005.
SCPP-2008-09 – Recording of the upper floor – The upper floor was originally surveyed as part of the 2003–2004 works. In 2008 the opportunity arose to revisit this work and to complete a full photographic survey of the rooms before restoration. Various interventions into the wall fabrics since 2004 were also recorded.
SCPP-2008-13 – Recording of the Governor’s Kitchen – Recording of the fabric of the interior walls of the Governor’s kitchen was undertaken following stripping of plaster from some of the walls. The walls were drawn by hand, added to existing elevations drawn during the 1997 (SCAK97) excavation in the rooms, and the features described. Evidence for changes in wall fabric was noted including original builds and crude 19th- and 20th-century repairs.
Kirkdale Archaeology
Funder: Historic Scotland
Paul Fox, Sarah Hogg, David Murray and Tom Whalley 2008
OASIS ID: kirkdale1-60239
