Brodick Castle Wet Ditch: Trial Trenching

Date March 2004

Event ID 935204

Category Recording

Type Trial Trench

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/935204

The foundations of the early 20th-century courtyard wall at the rear of the castle were investigated in March 2004. Severe cracking is visible in the walls on either side of the gateway, the cracks suggesting the wall foundations were built upon unconsolidated material, possibly an infilled medieval ditch.

Using a mini-digger, a trial trench was excavated in the middle of the courtyard entrance. Below the layers of road make-up and pipes were clear traces of the inner edge of a ditch. The natural boulder clay subsoil shelved away steeply precisely in line with the cracks in the wall. The presence of pipes and the proximity of the walls prevented further excavation in this area, but a new trench was dug by machine 10m to the NW of the first. This second trench was excavated to a depth of 1.6m without hitting subsoil, and was filled with a mixed layer of sandstone rubble and mortar. This must have been close to the middle of the ditch, and was full of demolition material from the old castle. The natural subsoil was located further to the W again and indicates that the ditch must be at least 20m wide.