Watching Brief
Date 15 February 2010 - 28 February 2010
Event ID 880019
Category Recording
Type Watching Brief
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/880019
NH 6643 4559 A watching brief was undertaken 15–28
February 2010 at Chapel St, Inverness, prior to a proposed
extension to an undertaker’s premises. The graveyard to the
SW of the development is a scheduled monument. It was
the site of the medieval Blackfriars, believed to have been
demolished by Oliver Cromwell in the mid-17th century. The
Ordnance Survey visited in April 1960 and found that ‘all
that remains of the Black Friars’ Monastery is an octagonal
column of ashlar masonry 0.7m in diameter with the remains
of the springing of an arch 2.4m above ground level. The
total height of the column is c3.5m’.
The scheduled area includes the site boundary wall and
as no archaeological investigation has been carried out there
the original site limit is unknown. Historic Scotland was
consulted and care was taken to keep excavations back from
the wall, which was not affected.
The footprint of the new building was machine excavated
in two spits to the first soil change below the surface
material. There was a considerable depth of topsoil over
the whole area, which had been disturbed repeatedly and
included 19th- and 20th-century bottles and disarticulated
animal bones (horse). In the centre of the site, the base
of one rectangular feature was noted in the subsoil at a
depth of c50mm. This feature contained the same topsoil as
elsewhere, could not be identified within the topsoil level
and contained no datable artefacts. It was interpreted as a
modern pit.
Following the clearance of topsoil and overburden
to a depth of c1m an inspection was undertaken of the
foundation trenches, which had been dug a further c0.3m
into the subsoil. Despite the disturbance it was clear that
the natural subsoil had been reached throughout and there
was no evidence that this area had been part of the Friary
complex. No significant archaeological features or artefacts
were recorded.
Archive: Highland Archaeology Services Ltd
Funder: J Fraser and Son