Watching Brief

Date October 2012

Event ID 994111

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/994111

NT 9039 6595 A watching brief in October 2012 observed the construction of a new door in the S elevation and its associated stair and footpath, ground reduction for an upgraded footpath serving the entrance porch, and the excavation of a trench through the S elevation for a new pipe.

A number of pieces of architectural stonework were recovered from the rubble core of the wall during the insertion of the new door. The architectural stone assemblage is varied but is dominated by stonework characterised by a distinctive type of bold carved moulding that can be confidently dated to the Early English Gothic of the late 12th to mid- 13th century. Reused in the construction of the later 17th-century church, these stones were chiefly from large heavily decorated arches and are uniformly of a pink or red sandstone.

Two pieces are of particular interest. The first has a carved human face, representing either a man or a woman, possibly a saint. The face is carved in stylised fashion, although effort has been made to define eyelids and provide texture to the hair. Rising from the right side of the head is the beaded edge of an arch and from the left side of the head a second rolled modelling. It is likely that this carved stone formed part of a door jamb.

The largest of the finds is also of note as it may constitute the partial remains of sedilia (recessed stone seats for clergy which are commonly found in the chancels, or choirs, of churches). The surviving carved cusps are suggestive of trefoil, quartrefoil, or cinqfoil motifs, which is consistent with a 13th-century date.

Other finds, including column shafts, would also fit well with this 12th- to 13th-century period of construction. However, other carved stones that have simpler or differing types of moulding are less easy to date and may point to different construction phases. In addition, there are finds that are clearly of later post-medieval and/or modern date, that were possibly originally associated with graves or grave architecture.

Archive: RCAHMS. Report: Scottish Borders HER (intended)

Funder: Congregational Board of Coldingham and St Abbs

Melanie Johnson and Adam Jackson, CFA Archaeology Ltd, 2013

(Source: DES)