Excavation

Date September 1999

Event ID 997751

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/997751

NS 896 957 Two exploratory trenches were dug to allow structural inspection of the tower founds in September 1999.

Trench 1 (3 x 1m) against the E wall revealed the tower foundation structure against which was constructed a stone-lined drain. Finds from deposits overlying the drain suggested that, if original, it had been reconditioned in the 18th century. The drain apparently connected to a system revealed on the N side of the tower in excavations in 1985.

Trench 2 (1 x 3m) against the N wall foot of the tower revealed a succession of surfaces and structural remains associated with 18th and 19th-century lean-to structures built against the tower wall. These overlay a well-preserved cobbled surface, also identified further E in 1985, that can perhaps be ascribed to the 16th or 17th century.

An assessment of the evidence of the original roof form of the tower was made during conservation work in July 2000.

Sponsor: Clackmannanshire Heritage Trust.

T Addyman 2000