Archaeology Notes

Event ID 823919

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/823919

NS79SE 6.07 7906 9401

NS 790 940 A watching brief was maintained in August during the excavation of a pipe trench through the E gateway of the protective wall surrounding the Nether Bailey powder magazines.

The excavation consisted of a meandering trench 9m long with an average depth of 500mm. The trench cut through areas of granite setts and sandstone paving, the setts forming the surface of the roadway which runs E-W through the Nether Bailey, while the sandstone paving forms the surface of a footpath created by the 2.5m gap between the magazines and their protective perimeter wall.

It seems clear that the area around the sides of the magazines has seen considerable disturbance over the years. Removal of the sandstone paving from the pathway around the immediate base of the magazine walls exposed a concrete foundation layer which, when removed, revealed a layer of black-brown soil in which numerous disturbed cobble stones could be seen. This appears to be the remnants of an earlier cobbled surface destroyed by later construction work and thrown back as landscaping to underlie the new sandstone paving slabs. Below this, the clay which overlay the basalt masonry seems to be an original waterproofing layer placed over the buried top of the magazine founds in order to direct moisture away from the powder magazine stonework.

In general terms, the new sandstone paving seems fairly recent and most of the disturbances appear to have taken place over a period probably not exceeding the last 50 years or so.

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

D Stewart 2000

Kirkdale Archaeology carried out a series of excavations in the western areas of Stirling Castle, centred around an area known as 'Ladies Lookout'. Deep deposits of dumped and naturally accumulated layers were uncovered, a selection of which were sent to CFA Archaeology for analysis. The layers were found to contain pottery fragments, glass, animal bone, cereal remains, plant material, wood charcoal, coal and cinders.

M Hastie 2006

NS 790 940 A watching brief was required in May 2003 for minor excavations on the upper gun platform of the French Spur at Stirling Castle. It was noted that the top surface of the French Spur has been very extensively excavated over the years and that the upper deposits in this area are likely to be landscaped backfill. There were no finds of archaeological significance.

Archive to be deposited in the NMRS.

Sponsor: HS

G Ewart 2003

NS 7902 9414 In the wall on the N side of the southernmost spur in the W wall of the N bailey of the castle, immediately N of the North Gate, are a least six blocks of roughly dressed stone. These are of Carboniferous Millstone grit, unlike the irregular blocks of lava agglomerate that form most of the wall. Three of these are extremely large, 1.48 x 0.3m and 1.57m long x 0.37m wide and 1.45 x 0.3 x 0.57m thick. The others were 0.42 x 0.36 x 0.21m, 0.65 x 0.36 x 0.26m and 0.62 x 0.36 x 0.25m.

Chistopher A Kelly, 2006.