Cramond

NT17NE 79 c. 1906 7696

Excavation W of Cramond Tower (NT17NE 4 at NT 1909 7695) on the presumed site of a chapel built for the Bishop of Dunkeld in the early 15th century located two fragments of stone wall and a door-jamb. A pit cut into the natural adjacent to the tower contained fragments of 18th century glass bottles.

N M M Holmes 1977.

NT 1906 7696

Excavation on W of Cramond Tower revealed two fragments of stone wall and a door jamb. A pit cut into the natural adjacent to the tower contained fragments of 18th century pottery. Relates to NH excavation area T.

Mortared building foundations a few metres W of Cramond Tower, possibly on the same alignment. Small round bronze button-like object with enamelled decoration of human bust retrieved, possibly a religious item.

Information from E.A.F.S.

NT 191 769

A trench just N of the NE corner of the fort revealed that the inner fort ditch continued northwards to form the eastern boundary of a military annexe which would have enclosed the bathhouse (Disc and Exc Scotland 1975 and 1976, Current Archaeology 59). The ditch profile, almost identical to that of the inner fort ditch in the manse garden, had been re-cut.

NT 1910 7696

East side of Cramond Tower. Mortared wall foundations; Late rectangular addition to tower. On same bedding of clay and boulders as tower. Much glass found.

NT 191 769

A Roman boundary ditch was discovered in the area immediately S of Cramond Tower, running at right angles to the projected line of the E ditch of the annex (Discovery Excav Scot 1978, I5), The upper levels had been destroyed by early 19th century land clearance, and the surviving portion of the ditch was of standard V-shaped profile with a width of 1.77m and a maximum depth of 1.10m. Initial silting had been followed by a partial recut and finally by deliberate backfilling. Pottery finds suggest an Antonine origin for the ditch, with the recut and backfilling occurring at the beginning and end of the Severan occupation.

The ditch had been cut by the digging of a pit which had been filled with large stones: its date and context are unknown. To the S of the ditch was part of a roughly cobbled footpath, c.1m wide, running almost parallel to the ditch. The surface sealed pottery of 17th century type.

N. M. McQ. Holmes

NT17NE 79 c. 1906 7696

This area is partially developed. It has clearly a high potential for prehistoric, Roman and later finds and the existence of a Roman fort at Cramond is well known. The area is back from the coastal edge and so is not strictly within the scope of this study. Yet it clearly has great potential and should be closely monitored.

Site recorded by GUARD during the Coastal Assessment Survey for Historic Scotland, 'The Firth of Forth from Dunbar to the Coast of Fife' 26th February 1996.