Mar Lodge Estate, The Red House, test pit

Date 7 March 2000

Event ID 976303

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/976303

As part of the repair and consolidation works at the Red House a small (400mm x 450mm) test pit was excavated to determine the nature of the foundations and soil composition prior to underpinning works next week. The test pit was excavated on the exterior of the north gable at its eastern end.

The deposits appear to indicate at least two phases of activity; an initial pit or trench was dug and this was then filled with a fine sand (006). The discovery of a lump of mortar and an iron file within the lower fill may indicate this was associated with building works. This was then truncated by the foundation trench for the north wall of the Red House, the cut for the trench is clearly visible through layer 003. The frequent mortar flecks within 002 suggest that this layer was deposited around the time of the building works.

The purpose of the test pit was to determine the depth and nature of the foundations and the nature of the underlying soils. The test pit revealed that the wall extends approximately 450mm below the current ground surface. The lower courses (009) are composed of sub-rounded boulders and stones (max 300mm), no mortar was visible in the lower course, but traces of a cement render (008) was visible higher up. Underlying the wall at this point was a fine sandy deposit, which is the fill of an earlier feature.

Information from NTS (SCS) March 2014