Irvine, Perceton House, Walled Garden

Russell Coleman managed an Historic Scotland funded project to record medieval moated sites in Scotland. Gazetteers were produced for each regional council area between 1996 and 2002 with an uncompleted overall review in 2002-03. The results of the first year of the project were published in Tayside and Fife Archaeological Journal, Volume 3 (1997).

NS34SE 7.01 3533 4077

NS 3533 4077 An archaeological evaluation was undertaken in advance of a housing development at Perceton. This established the survival of truncated medieval and post-medieval features within a walled garden. Subsequent excavation recorded evidence for a palisade enclosing a substantial timber building accessed through a defended entrance. The residence is believed to be of relatively high status, and pottery dating is consistent with it originating in the 14th century following the seizure and redistribution of the Perceton lands by Robert the Bruce. A sub-rectangular ditched enclosure replaced the palisade in the later medieval period and is likely to belong to a class of moated site associated with the lesser nobility throughout Britain. The area of excavation covered the NE part of this enclosure, which contained no evidence of an internal structure. A stretch of drystone facing against the interior side of the ditch may have been constructed around an entrance. Metalworking debris was associated with a kiln or furnace base and an adjacent structure outside the ditch. The land was converted into a garden in the 17th or 18th century, associated with either the surviving Perceton House or its immediate predecessor.

Sponsor: Mactaggart & Mickel Ltd.

S Stronach 2001.