Saline, Bridge Street, Old Graveyard

NT 02400 92549 A survey of a 600m2 area of the old burial ground was surveyed by EAFS on 13 July 2013 at the request of the Saline and District Heritage Society. The survey hoped to locate the site of the old parish church which had been demolished by 1811. Results were unclear over much of the area, probably due to the very dry nature of the subsoil. However, a positive higher resistance anomaly which could be a two cell structure of 10.0 x 4.5m was detected in the SE corner. This appeared to continue into the adjacent grounds of Kirklands House. A further survey in the field to the E of the Old Manse revealed no features of archaeological interest.

Archive: Fife Council HER and RCAHMS (intended)

Funder: Fife Council Archaeological Unit, Saline and District Heritage Society, Russell Trust and Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society

Ian Hawkins, Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society, 2013

(Source: DES)

NT 0240 9254 A survey of 20 x 20m2 squares was undertaken, 18–19 April 2015, of an area previously surveyed during a long hot, dry spell in 2013 (DES 2013, 86). The new survey was more successful and picked up three sides of a 6.2 x 4.5m rectangular feature in the lower part of the graveyard. Parts of the fourth side were visible as stones in the turf but did not show up in the resistance survey. It is considered that these might represent wall foundations of the western part of the former church that is believed to have been present in the graveyard, or of an associated building. However, there was no hint of any other wall foundations in the resistance plot. A dumpy level survey was also carried out to obtain an E–W elevation profile through the centre of the graveyard and a N–S profile across its higher E end.

Archive: Fife Council HER and National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) intended

Funder: Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society, Hunter Archaeological and Historical Trust, Saline and District Heritage Society

Don Matthews – Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society

(Source: DES, Volume 16)

NT 0240 9254 Following our 2013 survey (DES 2013, 86) of the graveyard, an area was identified at the E end where there appeared to be linear features in the surface topography and variations in the ground resistance, though these were not coincident with each other. A small part of this area was clear of visible graves and permission was obtained to put in two small, shallow trenches, on 18–19 April 2015, to investigate the features. Each trench was 3 x 0.5m and the excavation only proceeded to a sufficient depth to explain the features. The E/W trench was located across a break of slope at the top of the graveyard and found a layer of rubble beneath the turf surface, absent in the NE corner where there was the edge of a probable grave cut. The rubble was left undisturbed but appeared to be sufficient to explain the high resistance seen by the geophysics in this area. The N/S trench was located across an E/W linear feature in the surface topography. Here, there was also a layer of rubble but beneath this was a compact stony feature 700–800mm wide that appeared to be the base of an E/W wall, matching the line seen in the surface topography. It is unlikely that this represents part of the 18th-century church that was the original objective of the investigation, as many of the graves in this area are older. It is presumed to be an older structure that could extend E beneath the present boundary wall of the graveyard into the adjacent property, though no firm conclusions can be drawn from our very limited excavation.

Very few artefacts were recovered but they did include a piece of Scottish White Gritty Ware, which is substantially older than the documented age of the graveyard.

Archive: Fife Council HER and National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) intended

Funder: Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society, Hunter Archaeological and Historical Trust, Saline and District Heritage

Don Matthews - Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society

(Source: DES, Volume 16)

NT 02400 92548 In July 2022 an excavation within Saline Old Graveyard, designed to investigate a possible location for Saline’s old church (demolished in 1811), was undertaken by Saline & District Heritage Society. All due care was undertaken in avoiding disturbance to marked graves with excavation works being undertaken by Society members and volunteers.

Investigation, focused on a sunken anomaly with raised turf-covered banks, revealed the foundations of a rectangular sandstone-built structure (measuring 6.60 x 4.75 m) interpreted as a bell-tower located at NGR: NT 02316 92575. The southern wall of the putative bell-tower continued eastwards into an extensive area devoid of pre-1811 graves suggesting the location of the conjoined main church building with the bell-tower joining at its SW corner. The eastern wall of the bell-tower being the shared wall.

Archive: NRHE (intended)

Funder: Saline & District Heritage Society

John Gooder – ACCESS Archaeological Condition Services

(Source: DES Volume 23)