Dundee, Nethergate, City Churches, St Mary's Tower

Excavation and a watching brief in 1992-3 by SUAT Ltd during environmental improvements in the area of the City Churches revealed a ditch, which had been re-cut, extending southwards from the church. It was sealed beneath a medieval graveyard from which remains of 130 skeletons were recovered, along with a large quantity of disarticulated human bone. A stone box drain for the 19th century St Mary's parish church was cut into the graveyard.

The 1992-1993 excavation trenches, A to H, were located to the S of the City Churches, with one exception which was situated in front of the W door. Excavation was confined to only those areas were wall foundations, drainage pipe trenches or other groundworks disturbed the graveyard soil. As well as the trenches dug a watching brief was maintained on other groundworks in the precinct which led to a further trench, H, in a area of interest outside the W door to the tower. [1]

The main objective of the excavation was to record and remove the human remains that were threatened by deep foundation trenches and new drainage tracks. A further objective was to resolve the question as to whether the burials were related to the massacre in 1651 or were earlier medieval burials. It was hoped that evidence of structures would also be found, as Crawfurd's 18th century maps showed buildings along the Nethergate, as well as wider transepts on the church. [2]

The excavation produced firm evidence for a graveyard around the south and west sides of the church building, in areas once thought to have been devoid of burials. A total of 130 skeletons were excavated along with a large quantity of disarticulated human bone. Intercutting burials in each of the examined areas support the conclusion that this graveyard was used over a considerable number of years, and that there was no sign of a mass grave from General Monck's massacre in 1651. All ages were represented, as were both sexes. Areas of greater and lesser density of burials were also identified, although it is difficult to tell if this represents the use of individual layers. Preservation, in general, was poor and coffins were inferred with corroded nails found with some of the burials. Generally the coffins seem to be late in the burial sequence, perhaps indicating a change in burial practice during the use of the cemetery.

Dating the cemetery accurately is difficult, but it is apparently disused by the time that a stone culvert is inserted. This culvert was certainly present by 1841, as it was used for drainage by the architects of the 19th century rebuilding of the chancel and transepts. An earlier date for this drain is possible, as a similar one was encountered during construction south of the late 18th century nave.

The presence of burials cut by the steeple also indicates that at least one part of the cemetery had come in and gone out of use by the end of the 15th century. This agrees with the pottery recovered from sealed graves, which is 12th to 15th century in date.

The earliest date for burial is also in doubt. The only feature predating the graveyard has no dating evidence in it, and the historical evidence is sparse. This early ditch, with its possible gravel bank, may have formed part of the early town defences, and would almost certainly had predated the founding of the building that currently crosses its projected line. If projected southwards, it would have given shelter to Spalding's Wynd, which was formerly known as Abbot's Wynd. As such, its use as a town defence prior to Earl David's founding of a church in the late 12th century is not unreasonable. Further work in the Nethergate area will be needed to provide a more substantial answer.

As for the survival of archaeological deposits around the remainder of the church precinct, the results of watching briefs were poor. The pipe trench running down the west side of the church produced nothing but natural gravel and brick basements from the former South Lindsey St.

Information from SUAT