Kinneil Village
Village (Medieval), Unidentified Pottery (Medieval)
Site Name Kinneil Village
Classification Village (Medieval), Unidentified Pottery (Medieval)
Canmore ID 48130
Site Number NS98SE 10
NGR NS 9795 8053
NGR Description Centred at NS 9795 8053
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/48130
- Council Falkirk
- Parish Bo'ness And Carriden
- Former Region Central
- Former District Falkirk
- Former County West Lothian
NS98SE 10 980 805.
There is little doubt that the village of Kinneil, of which nothing now remains, sprang up in feudal times. It is said that it was built to the W of Kinneil House (NS 9820 8057) somewhere S of the church (Hunter 1967) near the site of the Roman wall, and had the causeway or base of the rampart as its street.
In 1661, there were 559 "communicable" persons in Kinneil parish, most of whom stayed in Kinneil village, but by 1691 it was almost wholly demolished, only a few families remaining.
T J Salmon 1913; D M Hunter 1967; NSA (written by K Mackenzie) 1845.
There is no evidence of this village on the ground.
Visited by OS (J P) 8 July 1974.
NS 977 805 - NS 979 805. Medieval pottery has been found in the field W and SW of Kinneil Church. The sherds found by Cumbernauld Hist Soc were mainly of 15th - 16th date, with 48 12th century sherds. Six sherds of medieval and later pottery from here were donated to the NMAS in 1969-70 by A Mansfield, Bishopton.
E J Price 1974; Cumbernauld Hist Soc 1974.; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1973.
Note (1978)
Kinneil NS c. 978 805 NS98SE 10
Site of medieval village around church; demolished in period 1661-91. Pottery reported to date from the 12th to the 16th centuries found.
RCAHMS 1978
(NSA, ii, Linlithgow, 134; Salmon, 1913, 47-8; Hunter 1967, 189; PSAS 102 1969-70, 296, no. 16; DES 1974, 68-9)
Trial Trench (February 1998)
NS 981 804 A programme of geophysical survey and trial excavations took place on the line of the Antonine Wall as part of Historic Scotland's review of the Scheduling of this monument. To the W of the Gil Burn aerial photographs show two distinct broad linear features, both consistent in appearance with the Antonine Wall ditch (see PSAS 126, 364, illus 15). The first runs E-W, and has been previously confirmed as an alignment of the Roman frontier; a second ditched feature appears to diverge from the E-W line and runs S to cross the Gil Burn further upstream. This latter has been considered as a possible second frontier feature alignment. The present work was designed to establish whether two frontier arrangements existed here and, if so, to examine the relationship between them. The grounds at Kinneil were also the site of a medieval village which was cleared in the 17th century by the owners of Kinneil House to create parkland.
The geophysical survey located two linear anomalies corresponding to those identified on the aerial photographs, as well as the remains of one definite rectilinear structure and a second possible structure.
Four trenches were excavated, located with reference to the aerial photographs and the results of the geophysical survey. The excavations revealed the Antonine Wall on its E-W alignment, confirming previous observations. The ditched feature diverging from this line to the SE was found to be a cobbled path set in a hollow; it is probably a path, and was presumably part of the 17th-century landscaping.
The remains of a beam slot, a paved area, a well, and stone walls were discovered at various points in the trenches, and relate to the former Kinneil village. Artefacts recovered during the excavations comprise pottery, glass, clay pipe and a silver long cross penny dating to Alexander III 2nd coinage c 1280-86.
A report has been lodged with the NMRS.
Sponsor: Historic Scotland
B Glendinning 1998; L J F Keppie 1999
Publication Account (2000)
NS 9819 8050 The Ditch was detected running on a E-W alignment. It lay below a later cobbled path and was therefore located with some difficulty. The Ditch had a width of c.7.5m, and was only excavated to a depth of 0.6m. The exposed fills consisted of a series of clayey silts and silty clays, suggesting natural silting rather than deliberate backfilling. About 1.7m N of the Ditch, a slight bank some 9.8m wide was present, and is probably the remains of the Outer Mound.
The proposed second line of the Ditch, suggested by previous writers (Robertson 1990; Bailey 1996), was not identified. Although the trench extended c.20m to the S of the E-W Ditch neither the Rampart nor any other associated Roman features were present within the trench.
NS 9813 8050 The Ditch was located on an E-W alignment. It had a surface width of c.8m. A small section was excavated into its N side, revealing its edge to be steep-sided. No trace of the Rampart survived. Two small negative features were located in the area of the Berm,. These were not excavated. They may be 'defensive pits' such as those found at Callendar Park (Bailey 1995) and Inveravon (Dunwell and Ralston 1995), however extensive excavation would need to confirm this.
The results of this excavation suggest that the large hollow excavated by Bailey (1996) within the walled garden of Kinneil House is not the re-entrant angle of a proposed divergent line of the Ditch. Given its position to the S of Kinneil House, it may represent a defensive feature related to the Palace of Kinneil and enclosing it on its eastern side. Alternatively, it could represent the remains of a defensive ditch from the proposed Roman fort at Kinneil (Hanson and Maxwell 1983)
B Glendinning 2000
G B Bailey 1995, 1996; A Dunwell and I Ralston 1995; W S Hanson and G S Maxwell 1983; A S Robertson 1990.
NS98SE RRX505 986 807
