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North Berwick, 33 Forth Street

No Class (Event)

Site Name North Berwick, 33 Forth Street

Classification No Class (Event)

Canmore ID 268433

Site Number NT58NE 181

NGR NT 5526 8534

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/268433

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council East Lothian
  • Parish North Berwick
  • Former Region Lothian
  • Former District East Lothian
  • Former County East Lothian

Archaeology Notes

NT58NE 181 5526 8534

NT 5526 8523 A building recording survey and evaluation were undertaken in September 2003. The survey provided a record of a former joiner's workshop and identified that the building is of a single phase, constructed in the early 20th century. The E gable had been built over an earlier wall dating to the 19th century.

Four trenches with a combined area of 24m² (5% of the area) were excavated in the garden at the front of the building. Deeply stratified deposits of medieval origin were discovered in all the trenches, including midden layers containing fragments of green-glazed and White Gritty ware pottery. A stone-capped culvert of medieval date was also found.

Report lodged with East Lothian SMR and the NMRS.

Sponsor: Camerons Ltd.

M Cressey and S Mitchell 2003

NT 552 853 An archaeological excavation was carried out in February and March 2004 in advance of a residential development, revealing a sequence of deeply stratified medieval deposits representing six phases of occupation.

The earliest phase was represented by a midden-rich soil deposit approximately 3m beneath street level. This was sealed by deep interleaved layers of sand. Two courses of a rubble-cored wall footing overlay the sand, aligned parallel to Forth Street and probably representing the remains of an earlier building. The third phase was represented by a midden-rich soil and an associated wall footing, aligned at 90° to Forth Street, representing a former burgage plot boundary. The wall was built from large stones and orthostats and had been partially robbed out. The wall and midden soil were sealed by a deposit of wind-deposited sand.

The fourth phase was represented by another midden soil and burgage plot wall. The character, alignment and situation of the wall and midden mirrored that of phase three. Phase five was represented by the remains of a former building and associated drainage structures. The character of the building could not be determined as only collapsed rubble remained at the edge of site. A square-section drainage channel was revealed which appeared to feed into a beehive-shaped sump cut 2m into the deposits underlying the building. This sump was circular, 1.3m in diameter, and of drystone construction, with a corbelled roof containing an inlet channel, and capped with a large slab. It fed into a linear stone-built drain which extended the full length of the site to the edge of Forth Street. The sixth and final phase was represented by a former joiner's shop which was the subject of a standing building survey during 2003 (DES 2003, 61).

Archive to be deposited in the NMRS.

Sponsor: Camerons Ltd.

S Mitchell 2004

Activities

Excavation (February 2004 - March 2004)

NT 552 853 An archaeological excavation was carried out in February and March 2004 in advance of a residential development, revealing a sequence of deeply stratified medieval deposits representing six phases of occupation. The earliest phase was represented by a midden-rich soil deposit approximately 3m beneath street level. This was sealed by deep interleaved layers of sand. Two courses of a rubble-cored wall footing overlay the sand, aligned parallel to Forth Street and probably representing the remains of an earlier building. The third phase was represented by a midden-rich soil and an associated wall footing, aligned at 90° to Forth Street, representing a former burgage plot boundary. The wall was built from large stones and orthostats and had been partially robbed out. The wall and midden soil were sealed by a deposit of wind-deposited sand.

The fourth phase was represented by another midden soil and burgage plot wall. The character, alignment and situation of the wall and midden mirrored that of phase three. Phase five was represented by the remains of a former building and associated drainage structures. The character of the building could not be determined as only collapsed rubble remained at the edge of site. A square-section drainage channel was revealed which appeared to feed into a beehive-shaped sump cut 2m into the deposits underlying the building. This sump was circular, 1.3m in diameter, and of drystone construction, with a corbelled roof containing an inlet channel, and capped with a large slab. It fed into a linear stone-built drain which extended the full length of the site to the edge of Forth Street. The sixth and final phase was represented by a former joiner's shop which was the subject of a standing building survey during 2003 (DES 2003, 61).

Archive to be deposited in the NMRS.

Sponsor: Camerons Ltd.

S Mitchell 2004

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