Excavation

Date 1 October 2012 - 5 October 2012

Event ID 993178

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/993178

NT 6320 2464 An excavation was undertaken 1–5 October 2012 of magnetic anomalies discovered during a geophysical survey at Mantle Walls, Ancrum (DES 12, 160). A number of local metal detector users and volunteer excavators took part in the week long excavation.

Trench A was opened over an anomaly at the foot of the hill which was thought to indicate the presence of a small outbuilding but, upon excavation it contained only ephemeral traces of heavily disturbed walling.

Two trenches, 2.5 x 5m, were opened on the summit of the hill where the survey had indicated the presence of the foundations of a masonry structure. Trench B contained a complex sequence of demolition and backfill events, including the remains of a robber trench containing 12th- to 13th-century medieval ceramic fine wares and fragments of painted wall plaster, at 0.7m below the plough soil.

Trench C revealed in situ mortared masonry walls starting at 0.2m below the current ground surface. A N–S running wall was partially robbed out, but one section survived up to 1m in height. This wall was built of coursed sandstone rubble with a chamfered ashlar jamb suggesting a blocked-up doorway, with a later, roughly mortared W–E cross wall abutting it. The features in this trench suggest the presence of a large medieval masonry structure of some pretension. This evidence goes some way to confirming reports of a palace of the medieval bishops of Glasgow in this area, described as a ruin in the 18th century. Neither trenches were bottomed out and the results indicate that deeply stratified medieval deposits do survive at the summit of the hill, although they are under direct threat from ploughing. Unstratified finds included medieval to modern ironwork, melted lead fragments and a small collection of post-medieval coins. Two intact lead musket balls were found along with evidence these were being manufactured on site.

Archive: Historic Scotland, RCAHMS and Scottish Borders SMR

Funder: Historic Scotland

Adrián Maldonado, University of Glasgow

2012