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A92 Road Improvements - Arbroath To Dundee
No Class (Event) (Period Unassigned)
Site Name A92 Road Improvements - Arbroath To Dundee
Classification No Class (Event) (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 273028
Site Number NO43SE 493
NGR NO 488 334
NGR Description NO 488 334 to NO 620 394
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/273028
- Council Angus
- Parish Arbirlot
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Angus
- Former County Angus
(Arbirlot; Monifeith; Panbride; Barry parishes)
Watching brief; excavation; standing building recording
NO 488 334 to NO 620 394 A watching brief was carried out during topsoil stripping as part of a road widening operation. Several features were revealed which were subject to excavation and a standing building survey.
(Arbirlot parish)
Balcathie Farm (Elliot to Meadows Wood). A total of 55 archaeological features were recorded on the SE side of the current A92, many of them situated on a slight knoll. The most significant feature was a discontinuous L-shaped palisade slot. Traces of possible posts were visible in longitudinal section. A concentration of possible post-holes, pits and slots were located close to the palisade slot, although no pattern was discernible. These negative features had been severely truncated.
Balcathie North - Elliot. A shallow oval pit measuring 1.5 x 1m was revealed, filled with fine silt. No other archaeological remains were noted.
(Monifeith parish)
Ardownie Farm Cottages. A souterrain terminus and a large sub-oval pit were revealed immediately N of the current A92, directly opposite the Ardownie souterrain (DES 2002, 13-14). The souterrain terminus comprised a curvilinear ditch, c 7.5m long and 2.5m wide, and reached a maximum depth of 0.35m where it disappeared under the A92. It had no lining stones and was filled with stony silt. The pit was located close to its inside edge and was c 1.3m in diameter and 0.3m deep; it was filled with stony silt.
(Panbride parish)
Hatton Junction. A single slot measuring 1 x 0.2m was revealed. A stone-built field drain aligned N-S was also noted.
(Barry parish)
Upper Victoria Farm Quarry and Smiddy. A circular building was revealed, buried within a deep cut at the northern edge of the former Pitskelly Quarry. The structure was barrel-shaped with a domed roof and built from sandstone blocks. It featured a square-headed doorway and a window with a square opening below. Internally it had four recesses of varying sizes, with a string ledge at the top of the wall. A possible forge was centrally situated, elaborately constructed from large ashlar blocks forming a stepped chimney. The floor was covered with a layer of pitch tar. The original purpose of the building is not known, although it has architectural elements consistent with its use as a dovecot, then as an explosives store, and later as a forge. It was buried during the 1950s.
Archive to be deposited in the NMRS.
Sponsor: Morgan Est plc.
I Suddaby, S Mitchell and M Cressey 2004
