Excavation

Date 1 March 2010 - 10 February 2011

Event ID 966076

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/966076

NS 7906 9404 (centred on) A programme of archaeological work was undertaken 1 March 2010–10 February 2011 as part of improvement work being undertaken in the Guard House Square. The work focused on the demolition of the Straw Store and construction of a new ticket office.

Guard House Square represents the main entrance to the Castle within the outer defences of 1714. It was originally built as an open square, with a defensive wall to the S along the cliff edge and to the E against a rock cut ditch, with a further ditch and inner wall to the N and W separating this area from the rest of the castle. Buildings were then built along its edges, with a Gun Shed built against its S wall by 1806. This was demolished and replaced by the Cart Shed (still standing) by 1858. Small ancillary structures built against the Cart Shed’s E wall were then replaced by the Straw Store, which is present by 1898. The original Straw Store occupied the N end of the E side of the Cart Shed, but in the 1950s an extension was appended to the S, between the Straw Store and the S wall of the castle. Other structures in square include a stables block and coach house just to the E of the Straw Store built against the E wall and a guard room in the NE corner.

A plan of 1708 shows the area immediately prior to the construction of the defences of 1714. This indicates that while the walls to the E and S are new, those to N and W follow similar alignments to the earlier (mid-16th-century) defences. A pyramidal spur projects out from these earlier defences, occupying the NE corner of the current square, with a probable ditch running around its S side. The entrance road to the castle is shown swinging around to the S of this ditch, running along the cliff edge to the S, and swinging back around to the N, with its projected path running right through the Straw Store and Cart Shed.

The following describes the sequence of fieldwork in terms of a series of stages, each reflecting a change in the focus and character of the work.

Stage 1 (1–19 March 2010) – Excavation and standing building recording Trench 1 was excavated against the E side of the Straw Store. Evidence was found for one of the ancillary structures built against the Cart Shed before the Straw Store, and a sequence of dumped, probable levelling layers was excavated, all post-dated or were contemporary with the 1714 S wall. A detailed drawn, photographic and written record was made of the external (N and E) walls of the Straw Store.

Stage 2 (23 November 2010–13 January 2011) – Standing building recording and watching brief A rapid photographic and written survey, using annotated sketches rather than formal drawings, was made of the inside of the Straw Store. This revealed details such as the partial survival of a window in the E wall of the Cart Shed (matching a surviving one in its W wall), and the blocking of a fireplace in the S wall of the Straw Store. An intermittent watching brief was then maintained during the demolition of the Straw Store. Details of the Straw Store’s construction, such as the use of massive blocks for aperture surrounds, and the incorporation of a cast iron chimney flue in its S wall were recorded.

Stage 3 (14–27 January 2011) – Excavation During this stage Trench 2, which occupied the footprint of the mostly demolished Straw Store was excavated. The wall of the ancillary structure split this trench into two halves. To the S post-1714 soil dumps were encountered. To the N infill surrounded exposed bedrock. The removal of the infill revealed fragmentary deposits that incorporated a wall line, running roughly NW–SE, with a probable ditch edge on its N side, and bedrock close to the surface to its S. The N face of this wall had been covered by a fine lime plaster at some stage.

Stage 4 (28 January–3 February 2011) – Excavation A deeper service track was excavated across the N end of the site, just to the E of the exposed section of wall. This exposed the continuation of this wall to the E, albeit at a lower height, which led to a request to lower the whole E side of the N end of Trench 2. The removal of later levelling deposits allowed the services to be placed without causing disturbance to the wall. A third trench was also opened up to the E of the S end of Trench 1 against the S wall of the castle, to accommodate a manhole. The trench contained services, deep infill deposits, which post-dated the castle wall, and revealed the drop in bedrock to the S and E.

Stage 5 (4–10 February 2011) – Excavation A service track (Trench 4) was dug N for 18.5m across the Guard House Square from the N end of Trench 3 to an existing manhole at the SE corner of the Guard House. The damaged remains of masonry, possibly the remains of the Spur, were recorded on a northward sloping bedrock terrace. A 0.3m drop at the S end of the bedrock may represent the N edge of the putative ditch found in Trench 2, and suggesting that the ditch was c7m wide.

Archive: RCAHMS (intended)

Funder: Historic Scotland

Kirkdale Archaeology, 2011

OASIS Id: kirkdale1-504428