Jedburgh, Queen Street, Medieval Remains

Two trenches each approximately 7m in length were excavated by

GUARD Archaeology Ltd across the footprint of proposed flats at the

corner of Queen Street and Smith’s Wynd in Jedburgh. A culvert drain

and related construction deposits were recorded towards the Queen

Street end of the site, while the remains of a poorly preserved possible

surface or putative wall were found towards the centre of the site.

Furthermore, a brick floor overlying a deep deposit of garden soil that

probably filled a natural undulation was partially visible towards the

northern limit of the development. Finds recovered during the evaluation

comprised clay pipe stems and green bottle glass. No artefacts or

features were encountered that could be attributed to the medieval

period.

Following on from this trial trench evaluation, GUARD Archaeology

Ltd undertook an archaeological watching brief during topsoil stripping

of the entire footprint of the proposed flats at Queen Street. A number of

deposits and walls were encountered, which led to a subsequent limited

archaeological excavation that revealed the remains of a possible

medieval building. This comprised two substantial clay bonded

boundary walls along the south-west and south-east sides of the

development area, abutted from the north by two narrower clay bonded

walls forming a small sub-rectangular structure at the corner of Queen

Street and Smith’s Wynd. A small culvert was located in the building

adjacent to the northern wall of the structure. Sondages excavated

through deposits within the building revealed a series of floor surfaces

comprising clay and earth horizons, the lower earthen horizon yielding

fragments of glazed and unglazed pottery fragments dating from the

thirteenth-fifteenth centuries AD. A deep garden soil was recorded

outside the building, containing medieval, post-medieval and early

modern finds and an early modern midden pit was recorded in the

northwest part of the site, while a sequence of two cobbled surfaces was

found underlying the tarmac of Smith’s Wynd.

CFA Archaeology Ltd carried out the final phase of work with the

development area. A monitored topsoil strip revealed a possible

medieval pit and a possible medieval street surface.

Information from CFA Archaeology Ltd (MJ) June 2016

NT 6515 2070 A programme of archaeological work was undertaken, 19 February – 11 April 2014, in advance of development work. Two trenches, each c7m in length, were excavated, across the footprint of proposed flats on the corner of Queen Street and Smith’s Wynd. A culvert drain and related construction deposits were recorded towards the Queen Street end of the site, while the remains of a poorly preserved possible surface or putative wall were found towards the centre of the site. Furthermore, a brick floor overlying a deep deposit of garden soil, which probably filled a natural undulation, was partially visible towards t he northern limit of the development. Finds recovered during the evaluation consisted of clay pipe stems and green bottle glass.

A watching brief was then undertaken during topsoil stripping across the entire footprint of the proposed flats at Queen Street. A number of deposits and walls were encountered, which led to a subsequent limited excavation

that revealed the remains of a medieval building. The building consisted of two substantial clay bonded boundary walls along the SW and SE sides of the development area, abutted from the N by two narrower clay bonded walls forming a small sub-rectangular structure at the corner of Queen Street and Smith’s Wynd. A small culvert was located in the building

adjacent to the N wall of the structure. Sondages excavated through deposits within the building revealed a series of floor surfaces consisting of clay and earth horizons, the lower earthen horizon yielding fragments of glazed and unglazed pottery fragments dating from the 13th–15th century. A deep garden soil was recorded outside the building, containing medieval, post-medieval and early modern finds. An early modern midden pit was recorded in the NW part of the site, and a sequence of two cobbled surfaces was found underlying the tarmac of Smith’s Wynd.

Archive: RCAHMS (intended)

Funder: Borders Low Carbon Developments Ltd

Alan Hunter Blair - GUARD Archaeology Ltd

(Source: DES)

Two trenches each approximately 7m in length were excavated by GUARD Archaeology Ltd across the footprint of proposed flats at the corner of Queen Street and Smith’s Wynd in Jedburgh. A culvert drain and related construction deposits were recorded towards the Queen Street end of the site, while the remains of a poorly preserved possible surface or putative wall were found towards the centre of the site. Furthermore, a brick floor overlying a deep deposit of garden soil that probably filled a natural undulation was partially visible towards the northern limit of the development. Finds recovered during the evaluation comprised clay pipe stems and green bottle glass. No artefacts or features were encountered that could be attributed to the medieval

period.

Following on from this trial trench evaluation, GUARD Archaeology Ltd undertook an archaeological watching brief during topsoil stripping the entire footprint of the proposed flats at Queen Street. A number of deposits and walls were encountered, which led to a subsequent limited archaeological excavation that revealed the remains of a possible medieval building. This comprised two substantial clay bonded boundary walls along the south-west and south-east sides of the development area, abutted from the north by two narrower clay bonded walls forming a small sub-rectangular structure at the corner of Queen Street and Smith’s Wynd. A small culvert was located in the building adjacent to the northern wall of the structure. Sondages excavated through deposits within the building revealed a series of floor surfaces comprising clay and earth horizons, the lower earthen horizon yielding fragments of glazed and unglazed pottery fragments dating from the thirteenth-fifteenth centuries AD. A deep garden soil was recorded outside the building, containing medieval, post-medieval and early modern finds and an early modern midden pit was recorded in the northwest part of the site, while a sequence of two cobbled surfaces was found underlying the tarmac of Smith’s Wynd.

CFA Archaeology Ltd carried out the final phase of work with the development area. A monitored topsoil strip revealed a possible medieval pit and a possible medieval street surface.

The results of post-excavation analysis suggest that the structures identified in the excavations comprise two substantial boundary walls of medieval and post-medieval date, and two narrow walls adjoining these that may be contemporary or later. More work would be required to understand the relationships of the walls. The walls overlie backland soils of medieval and post-medieval date on the basis of pottery and C14 dates. Two C14 dates were obtained from samples of birch and barley taken from secure soil deposits within the putative building. These produced calibrated dates of AD 1448-1634 and AD 1431-1620 respectively.

Information from CFA Archaeology Ltd (MJ) June 2016

OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-184886

NT 6515 2070 A watching brief was carried out, June – July 2014, during topsoil stripping associated with groundbreaking work for a residential development on garden ground to the rear of 51A/51B High Street. This site is immediately to the NW of a recently identified medieval/ early post-medieval building.

While the majority of the deposits proved to be recent, two archaeological features were identified. These were a possible medieval street surface, which only just encroached onto the site, and an elongated pit containing sherds of medieval pottery.

It is likely that a large pit identified during the watching brief is the same or associated with the pit described in the GUARD report. It is now clear that the redeposited clay surface described in the GUARD report and the grey

sand below it that was identified in their Sondage E were actually fills of the large modern cut. It is also now clear that the boundary wall in the GUARD report is unlikely to be medieval in date, as the medieval horizon lies at a lower depth than this wall.

The portion of the site to the NW of the house footprint required no monitoring, as the parking area planned for this area will require the site to be raised and will leave any buried features undisturbed.

Archive: RCAHMS

Funder: Borders Low Carbon Developments Ltd

Magnus Kirby - CFA Archaeology Ltd

(Source: DES)