Archaeology Notes

Event ID 684645

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/684645

NO20NE 3.00 25345 07454

NO20NE 3.01 NO 2536 0744 Pictish Symbol Stones (NO20NW 13)

NO20NE 3.02 NO 25384 07645 Royal Stables and Tennis Court

NO20NE 3.03 NO 25344 07438 Tyndall Bruce Statue

see also:

NO20NE 119 NO 25178 07500 Private Bridge (Between Palace and Falkland House)

(NO 2535 0745) Palace (NR) (Remains of)

OS 6" map (1938)

Falkland Palace occupies the site of a steading at least as old as the 15th century.

It was a quadrangular structure, with buildings on the north, south and east sides. The west side was closed by a wall against or close to which was erected a 'lodging', since removed. Only the foundations of the north side remain and of the south and east sides the east side is in ruins.

Construction was begun about 1530, to replace the older castle (NO20NE 18), and was completed in 1541, incorporating earlier work (Macgibbon and Ross (1887) date the south front, architecturally, to the late 15th century: existing fabric was incorporated in the construction of this side in 1537). The eastern range was 'a new work' in 1516 but was virtually rebuilt in 1537. By 1685 the palace was partly ruinous but it was extensively restored in the 19th century.

RCAHMS 1933

As described above. The east range is being extensively restored.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 21 March 1967

Two cut-down symbol stones found on Westfield Farm are now exhibited in Falkland Palace Museum. For information on the symbol stones, see NO20NW 13.

Falkland Palace developed from a pre-existing castle which may have its roots in the 12th or 13th century. Two towers of the castle had been adversely affected by root action, and steps were needed to halt this process. Vegetation has now been removed from both towers, and one, the keep or well tower, has been further investigated vath the aid of NTS Conservation Volunteers. The tower was found to have been dismantled and entirely restored by Lord Bute during his excavations at Falkland in the 1890s; a well head, perhaps of 17th or 18th-century design, was also introduced. Lord Bute reused stonework from adjacent medieval buildings to make up a level surface which will now be consolidated and used in the visitor interpretation of the castle. The second, smaller tower is due to be investigated in 1995.

Sponsor: NTS.

R Turner 1994

NO 253 074 Four exploratory trenches were excavated by Scotia Archaeology Limited at first floor level within the E range of the palace to determine the age of the deposits that overlay the vaulted cellars below. All such materials, comprising concrete, bricks, felt/bitumen and ashy waste had been deposited during the Marquis of Bute's renovations in the late 19th century or when the concrete floor was laid in the 1930s and 1960s.

Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland.

H Smith 1995.

NO 2538 0747 A watching brief was kept by Scotia Archaeology Ltd during the excavation of several drainage trenches within and outside a range of cellars beyond the E range of the palace. At the N end of the range, two sections of the original 16th-century drain system were uncovered; a third drain, to the immediate N of the cross-house, was a late 19th-century rebuild. The load-bearing walls of the E range, the cellars and the cross-house were set on bedrock.

Although exploratory trenching had already established that the concrete covering the floor of the hall in the E range was of 20th-century date (Smith 1995), its removal was also monitored during this programme.

Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland

J Terry 1996

NO 253 074 Scotia Archaeology Ltd kept a watching brief during the excavation of trenches for a new drainage system along the N (courtyard) side of the S range of the palace. The excavation revealed a complex of existing drains including a stone-lined channel stretching 35m along the length of the range. This channel was 0.3m wide and varied in depth from 0.25m near the angle with the E range to 0.45m at its W end. The channel, together with an overlying U-shaped open drain, is thought to be of 19th-century origin.

Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland

J Terry 1997

NO 2535 0745 This work is the continuation of a project started in 1994, investigating the remains of Falkland Castle. Excavation of the remains of the western D-shaped tower was undertaken, the purpose being to remove the disturbed material attributable to investigations carried out at the site by Lord Bute, late last century. Excavations revealed that most of the existing walling is of drystone construction, with two small patches of lime-mortared wall being the only remnants of the original building. Landscaping for the gardens has removed any trace of previous archaeological surfaces, with thin topsoil overlying degraded sandstone bedrock.

The site was filled in after excavation to a lower level, to allow later consolidation and interpretation of the remains.

Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland

D Hind 1998

NO 254 076 An archaeological watch was kept on the installation of earthing rods for the upgraded lightning conductors at Falkland Palace in June 2002.

The excavations were minimal in nature, and only the topsoil was disturbed. Two trenches within a cultivated bed on the W side of the castle yielded late 19th- to early 20th-century earthenware. No other finds or features were recorded.

Archive to be deposited in Fife SMR and the NMRS.

Sponsor: NTS.

D Hind 2002

c NO 253 074 A watching brief was conducted in February 2005 during the excavation of five small holes to receive new signposts. The holes had a maximum depth of 0.6m and were 0.4m square. Trench 1 lay to the S of the entrance, trench 2 lay to the NW corner of the palace, trench 3 lay further to the N, and the remaining two trenches lay within the present garden area to the E and W respectively. Only trenches 1-3 contained anything of archaeological interest, in the form of a substantial rubble deposit.

Archive to be deposited in NMRS.

Sponsor: NTS.

G Ewart 2005