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Dundee, Nethergate, St Enoch's Church (Site Of)
Church (19th Century)
Site Name Dundee, Nethergate, St Enoch's Church (Site Of)
Classification Church (19th Century)
Canmore ID 33456
Site Number NO43SW 107
NGR NO 40016 30029
NGR Description NO 40016 30029
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/33456
- Council Dundee, City Of
- Parish Dundee (Dundee, City Of)
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District City Of Dundee
- Former County Angus
NO 400 300 The site lies at the western corner of the junction of Nethergate and Marketgait, at the western edge of the medieval burgh of Dundee, but within the area enclosed by the 17th-century town wall. The site is vacant ground used for parking, but was formerly occupied by St Enoch's Church, the front steps of which still survive. Included within the site is the former SE end of the medieval street, Long Wynd.
Three trenches were excavated. No artefacts were recovered from any of the trenches. Trenches A and C produced no deposits or features of archaeological interest except for a well in Trench A. The well was capped by large flagstones. It was 0.80m in diameter, 8.65m deep, with the water level at 7.25m below the surface. This well was previously uncovered in 1970. The well pre-dates the church and may have provided a water supply for either the 18th-century house or the 19th-century buildings.
The deposits at the southern end of Trench B indicated at least three building phases dating from the 18th century. Nothing attributable to the Blackfriars monastery was found. The presence of natural deposits at a depth of only 1m to 1.30m in Trenches A and B indicates that there was no defensive ditch outside the 16th-century town wall.
Sponsor: Bank of Scotland.
R Cachart 1994j.
(Approx. grid reference - excavation possibly on map sheet - awaiting excavation archive to determine exact location of trenches and grid reference.)
Information from RCAHMS (FD) 5/2/98
ARCHITECT: Chas. Edward and T. S. Robertson. 1874.
Observation (March 1970)
Nethergate Well, discovered and recorded during demolition
Discovered during construction work in March 1970, on site of St. Enoch's Church. A draw-well lined with coujrsed drystone work, water depth at time of measurement 4 ft 11 ins (1.50m) well 16 ft (5m) deep x 2 ft 6 ins (0.75m) in diameter. St Enoch's Church built 1874 now demolished. Wedderburn claims well preserved intact at time of discovery.
Stevenson and Torrie, S J and E P D. 1988. Historic Dundee: the archaeological implications of development, Scottish Urban Archaeology Trust, Perth.
Trial Trench (1987)
A machine trench in the car park of St Paul's Church at the corner of Nethergate and Marketgait revealed buried topsoil 1.3m below the ground level, sealed by Victorian rubble dumps. The site lies between Netheragte and the buried Tay foreshore. Foreshore deposits and structures may be present under Victorian dumpings.
Sponsor : SDD HBM
D P Bowler 1987g
A single trial trench by SUAT Ltd. In 1987 at the rear of the church, at the corner of Nethergate and Marketgait, revrealed buried topsoil beneath 1.3m of Victorian rubble dumps.
A trial trench 3.15m x 0.8m was dug by Mantis to a depth of 1.3m. The trench location, and deposits found are shown on illustrations. The brown loam layer at the bottom of the trench appeared to be a buried soil and may archaeologically significant, but no dateable objects were seen. The rubble layers above were densely compacted and contained Victorian or later bricks.
Before the large scale land reclamation of the nineteenth-century the area excavated was low-lying and close to the Tay foreshore; it seems to have been artificially raised in the last century. Further investigation of the underlying material would required removal of a larger area, down to c1m below surface. Heavy machinery would be necessary to penetrate the compacted rubble layers.
Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust. 1987. Trial Excavation, St Paul's Meadowside, Dundee.
Trial Trench (1994)
Because of the presence of live services on the site of the former Seres Wynd/Long Wynd, it was not possible to investigate that part of the site. It was, therefore, not possible to establish the origin of the wynd or the course of the 16th century defensive wall. In addition, an electric cable apparently ran across the eastern part of the site. The trial trenching was thus confined to the western part of the area available for investigation.
No artefacts were recovered from any of the trenches. Trenches A and C produced no deposits or features of archaeological interest except for the well in the former trench. This well pre-dates the church and may have provided a water supply for either the 18th century house or the 19th century buildings.
The deposits at the southern end of Trench B are more problematic. The presence of so many layers suggests that they were not deposited in a single phase of activity, but over an indefinite period of time, the three deposits of mortart and rubble indicating at least three building phases. The mixed midden deposit with animal bone fragments between the two upper mortar deposits probably relates to the 19th century occupation of the site, before the construction of the church. If so, then the rubble deposits below it probably belong to the construction of the 18th century church house and 19th century buildings which came to surround it. Nothing attributable to the Blackfriars monastery was found. The presence of natural deposits at a depth of only 1-1.30m in Trenches A and B indicates that there was no defensive ditch outside the 16th century town wall.
Further Work
The trial trenching has established that it is unlikely that much survives of archaeological importance within the site of the former St Enoch's Church. However,the course of Seres Wynd/Long Wynd and of the Blackfriars' precinct wall/16th century town wall should be investigated in order to establish their survival and origin. A watching brief of the contractors' trenches in the eastern part of the site, where services prevented investigation, is recommended.
Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust. 1994. Archaeological Assessment: Marketgait/Nethergate, Dundee.
