Excavation

Date April 2009 - August 2009

Event ID 607918

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/607918

ND 3779 5490 Three sessions of fieldwork were undertaken during 2009. The first, during April and May, saw the completion of the excavation in the buildings of the Outer Ward. The excavation of the ground floor West Gatehouse was completed, revealing a number of window openings and recesses. Excavation ceased at the mid-17th-century deposits associated with Commonwealth troops using the castle. The surface finds recovered from this deposit suggested the room had been divided into separate, intensively occupied living spaces.

The second session during June and July saw the reinstatement of the Outer Ward courtyard in preparation for

its public opening in 2010.

The final session in August saw the initiation of the Moat Project, which is designed to explore the archaeology of the dry moat on the S side of the castle. Excavation focused on two main areas, the S entrance and the area beneath the bakehouse. Excavation beneath the bakehouse allowed an investigation of the area of structural failure in the castle’s fabric, and a possible fault in the bedrock was found to be responsible. Excavation around the S entrance revealed late 16th-century formal landscaping features. Visible on early photographs, this series of terraces, walls and a formal path had been buried and partially robbed. The removal of rubble

collapse deposits from the area of the S entrance revealed the original height of the opening, remains of an earlier entrance and finds associated with the stripping of the castle in the late 17th century, including ornate architectural stone fragments, window glass and lead cames.

Archive: Post-excavation is ongoing, and a report will be deposited with the RCAHMS

Funder: Clan Sinclair Trust

Field Archaeology Specialists Ltd