Aberdeen, 30-46 Upperkirkgate
No Class (Event) (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Aberdeen, 30-46 Upperkirkgate
Classification No Class (Event) (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) E29; Upper Kirkgate
Canmore ID 20129
Site Number NJ90NW 219
NGR NJ 941 064
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/20129
- Council Aberdeen, City Of
- Parish Aberdeen
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District City Of Aberdeen
- Former County Aberdeenshire
NJ90NW 219 941 064
A total area of 1,500 sq m was examined, encompassing a large backland site up to 10m from the street frontage, which was itself inaccessible because of listed building constraints. The site lay c 6m W of the site excavated at 42 St Paul Street (NJ90NW 86). Much of the late medieval/early post-medieval deposits had been scarped during 19th century development, but sufficient remained to allow some appreciation of the area to be made. It seems probable that this site was not developed so early or so intensively as 42 St Paul Street, suggesting that settlement developed gradually downhill from the Broad Street-Castle Street centre of the burgh. A clay foundation running N-S probably represented a 13th-14th century boundary. No other early boundaries were recorded but were probably on the lines of modern property divisions and have long since disappeared. The bottoms of a number of earthfast posts may represent a medieval building near the frontage, but all other evidence of it had been obliterated. A number of medieval pits, of which three were very straight-sided and regular in shape, may have originally been storage pits. A post in the corner of one may suggest that this one at least had a superstructure as inferred from a similar example at 42 St Paul Street. A post-medieval (17th century) pit had been lined with thin strips of timber. Medieval finds included a bone knife handle and a fragment of decorated wood perhaps from a casket.
J A Stones 1987.
At 46 Upperkirkgate, an uncellared building on the frontage of the medieval street Upperkirkgate, two trial pits, dug to a depth of 1.5m to gauge the potential for development, were observed. No medieval material was recorded.
A Cameron 1990.
The excavation archive from 30-46 Upperkirkgate has been catalogued. The archive consists of manuscripts, drawings and photographic material.
Historic Scotland Archive Project (FO) 1997.
