Standing Building Recording

Date March 2009 - November 2009

Event ID 609274

Category Recording

Type Standing Building Recording

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/609274

NS 33474 18591 A record of Burns Cottage, which included the exterior elevations, internal sections and a ground plan, incorporating a record of the flooring, was produced between March–November 2009. Detailed drawings were also produced documenting the early features in the kitchen such as the box bed, internal fittings and furniture. The drawn record was then extended following the removal of the 1993 heritage installations.

The appraisal of the standing fabric of Burns Cottage, undertaken in 2006, was reviewed in detail on site and the structure was then subjected to comprehensive context recording. This revealed that although most of the internal fittings and furniture appear to be relatively early, none could be directly confirmed as being of mid- to late 18th-century date and cannot therefore be assumed to be original.

Woodwork, wall linings, plaster, etc. had been extensively stripped in 1993 and much information had clearly been lost at that point. It appears that most alterations were undertaken in the 19th century at the beginning of heritage tourism to the cottage. The building was first re-used as an inn and this required the insertion or enlargement of window openings and fireplaces. When the building was turned into a museum towards the end of the 19th century by the Burns Monument Trust many of these features were blocked, and what was assumed to be the original layout was recreated. Extensive repairs were then undertaken in 1993 in advance

of the installation of the present heritage interpretation. Large parts of the NW and NE wall (front and rear of the barn) were rebuilt and some openings such as vents or doorways were recreated at that time. A photographic record of these works, principally taken by Jim Souness, made it possible to reconstruct some of the features lost in 1993.

Ground-breaking works in the garden and car park area, associated with the ongoing redevelopment of the site for the Burns National Heritage Park, were monitored. This included the excavation of trenches for new dry stone walls, services, temporary facilities and site access. About 10m to the rear of the cottage the remains of a sandstone and lime mortar structure, c3m in width, were encountered and these may relate to an outhouse or privy. The footings of the now demolished southern extension to the cottage (built in the early 1800s) and the perpendicular jamb that had extended from it (built c1847) were also identified and confirmed as a two-phase construction. While the earlier part was founded on brick with lime mortar, the perpendicular building (used as the first museum on site), was built on large red sandstone flags and lime mortar bedding. Both buildings were demolished between 1899–1902 and building debris such as window glass and roofing slates was recovered.

The remaining area around the cottage revealed evidence relating to 19th-century or later remodelling of the garden, but did not yield any further data relating to the early layout or use of the site. A few pieces of 19th-century pottery and bottle glass were recovered from the topsoil, but no earlier or later pottery, and it is likely that some of these finds were imported onto the site during landscaping.

Archive: NTS (intended)

Funder: The National Trust for Scotland

Tom Addyman, Amanda Gow, Kenneth MacFadyen and Tanja Romankiewicz – Addyman Archaeology