Neilston, Main Street, Neilston Parish Church
Burial Ground (Period Unassigned), Church (18th Century)
Site Name Neilston, Main Street, Neilston Parish Church
Classification Burial Ground (Period Unassigned), Church (18th Century)
Canmore ID 42990
Site Number NS45NE 22
NGR NS 48010 57363
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/42990
- Council East Renfrewshire
- Parish Neilston (Renfrew)
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Renfrew
- Former County Renfrewshire
NS45NE 22 4800 5736.
The actual size and structure of the pre-Reformation church of Neilston parish are not known. The present post-Reformation building contains a small portion of the older structure and a window in the north wall is said to be at least 400 years old. It appears to have been dedicated to St Conval.
J McWhirter 1970
An archaeological assessment of the parish church was carried out by GUARD in March 2002.
Information from GUARD report, Project 1149, NMRS MS/1069/68.
Trial Trench (July 2003 - September 2003)
NS 4801 5736 As part of restoration works, a trial trench excavated between July and September 2003 inside the current church revealed a deep deposit of disarticulated human bone, within which two articulated burials had been buried. In the N of this trench the remains of foundation stones were discovered, aligned E-W, relating to a previous phase of the church. No firm evidence for the date of the foundations was recovered.
During drainage works outside the church, several extended inhumations were revealed and have been radiocarbon dated to the post-medieval period. Those burials that could not be avoided by the works were lifted, analysed and reburied. Finds include a 17th-century coin, two sherds of green-glazed pottery, a jet bead and a possibly prehistoric stone axe/hammer.
Report lodged with WoSAS SMR and the NMRS.
Sponsor: Neilston Parish Church.
D Swan, D Sneddon, H James 2004
Watching Brief (2003)
NS 480 573 A watching brief was carried out during renovation and repair works. Inside the church two test trenches were dug to investigate the possible foundations of the medieval and later 18th-century church phases. A deposit of disarticulated human bone was found lying over articulated skeletons. The remains of a stone foundation are thought to be from the 18th-century
T-shaped church. Finds include a 17th-century coin, medieval pottery, a jet bead and a possibly prehistoric stone axe/hammer.
In the graveyard, a trench dug for the replacement of services revealed 27 articulated skeletons at a depth of c 0.3-0.6m below the surface. Only four of these were lifted and the rest were analysed in the ground. The presence of post-medieval artefacts, lead-lined coffins, coffin handles and shroud pins indicates a probable date for these burials in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Report to be lodged with WoSAS SMR and the NMRS.
Sponsor: Neilston Parish Church.
D Sneddon and D Swan 2003
