Dundee, South Lindsay Street, St Mary's Church, Churchyard

Skeletal remains found in the 19th century were regarded as victims of Monck's assault. These had been found when the buildings on the south side were cleared away early in the 19th century to widen Nethergate (here called Ladygate).

The skeletons were discovered in 1814 when houses south of church grounds were removed.

Perry, 2005

Excavation and a watching brief in 1992-3 by SUAT Ltd during environmental improvements in the area of the City Churches revealed a ditch, which had been re-cut, extending southwards from the church. It was sealed beneath a medieval graveyard from which remains of 130 skeletons were recovered, along with a large quantity of disarticulated human bone. A stone box drain for the 19th century St Mary's parish church was cut into the graveyard.

The 1992-1993 excavation trenches, A to H, were located to the S of the City Churches, with one exception which was situated in front of the W door. Excavation was confined to only those areas were wall foundations, drainage pipe trenches or other groundworks disturbed the graveyard soil. As well as the trenches dug a watching brief was maintained on other groundworks in the precinct which led to a further trench, H, in a area of interest outside the W door to the tower. [1]

The main objective of the excavation was to record and remove the human remains that were threatened by deep foundation trenches and new drainage tracks. A further objective was to resolve the question as to whether the burials were related to the massacre in 1651 or were earlier medieval burials. It was hoped that evidence of structures would also be found, as Crawfurd's 18th century maps showed buildings along the Nethergate, as well as wider transepts on the church. [2]

The excavation produced firm evidence for a graveyard around the south and west sides of the church building, in areas once thought to have been devoid of burials. A total of 130 skeletons were excavated along with a large quantity of disarticulated human bone. Intercutting burials in each of the examined areas support the conclusion that this graveyard was used over a considerable number of years, and that there was no sign of a mass grave from General Monck's massacre in 1651. All ages were represented, as were both sexes. Areas of greater and lesser density of burials were also identified, although it is difficult to tell if this represents the use of individual layers. Preservation, in general, was poor and coffins were inferred with corroded nails found with some of the burials. Generally the coffins seem to be late in the burial sequence, perhaps indicating a change in burial practice during the use of the cemetery.

Dating the cemetery accurately is difficult, but it is apparently disused by the time that a stone culvert is inserted. This culvert was certainly present by 1841, as it was used for drainage by the architects of the 19th century rebuilding of the chancel and transepts. An earlier date for this drain is possible, as a similar one was encountered during construction south of the late 18th century nave.

The presence of burials cut by the steeple also indicates that at least one part of the cemetery had come in and gone out of use by the end of the 15th century. This agrees with the pottery recovered from sealed graves, which is 12th to 15th century in date.

The earliest date for burial is also in doubt. The only feature predating the graveyard has no dating evidence in it, and the historical evidence is sparse. This early ditch, with its possible gravel bank, may have formed part of the early town defences, and would almost certainly had predated the founding of the building that currently crosses its projected line. If projected southwards, it would have given shelter to Spalding's Wynd, which was formerly known as Abbot's Wynd. As such, its use as a town defence prior to Earl David's founding of a church in the late 12th century is not unreasonable. Further work in the Nethergate area will be needed to provide a more substantial answer.

As for the survival of archaeological deposits around the remainder of the church precinct, the results of watching briefs were poor. The pipe trench running down the west side of the church produced nothing but natural gravel and brick basements from the former South Lindsey St.

Information from SUAT

NO 4005 3005 In September 1996 SUAT excavated eight trial trenches in and around the 1960s Overgate Centre on the SW side of the City Churches, in advance of redevelopment. The trenches found relatively little evidence of medieval occupation which seemed to confirm that the construction of the present centre had mostly destroyed such remains. Some disturbed and truncated medieval deposits were, however, identified in two trenches and a few sherds of medieval pottery were recovered. Isolated pockets of archaeology may have survived within the complex, and further work in the form of a watching brief is due to take place when redevelopment begins.

Sponsor: TBI plc.

R Cachart 1996

Trial trenching by SUAT Ltd. In 1996 revealed that the construction of the centre in the 1960s had not completely destroyed all traces of medieval occupation; disturbed and truncated medieval deposits were found in two trenches, along with some medieval pottery. [1]

Eight trial trenches were hand dug around the Overgate Centre as part of an archaeological evaluation prior to development. The excavations were undertaken to identify and evaluate all relevant archaeological deposits or features, particularly those thought to relate to the main thoroughfares of Nethergate and Over gate, an early city boundary ditch, burials around the north side of St Mary's Church and the Franciscan Nunnery.

The trial trenches revealed the following:

Trench A Shallow, modern deposits overlay natural sand.

Trench B Modern services cut an unbottomed deep fill of a probable backfilled basement.

Trench C Deep disturbance was caused by modern services with intercutting fills.

Trench D A shallow wall feature represented the remains of a demolished 19th-century urinal infilled with rubble from which two fragments of human bone were recovered.

Trench E Disturbance by modern services had cut through a wall and infilled basement. A disturbed medieval deposit lay the natural sand.

Trench F A very deep upfilling of modern make-up that was not bottomed.

Trench G A former road surface below which relatively modern services and a probable backfilled basement or well had disturbed medieval make-up of an early road.

Trench H - The modern services inserted alongside the foundation remains of a frontage building had disturbed underlying deposits.

The trial work produced no conclusive evidence relating to the four main objectives. Evidence of medieval occupation in the form of disturbed deposits containing residual medieval pottery was however found, and could indicate that pockets of medieval archaeology may well survive intact in other areas of the proposed development. Two small residual fragments of human bone found within an infilling on the north side of the City Churches could suggest that burials took place on this side of the church.

Information from SUAT,

Archaeological Assessment at the Overgate Centre, Dundee.

NO 401 301 A further small-scale excavation was undertaken on a previously known medieval graveyard located to the S of the city churches. The excavation was occasioned by the laying of telecommunications cables for the new Overgate Centre. Forty articulated skeletons were recovered, along with a large quantity of disarticulated bone.

Sponsor: Overgate Centre Management Team/Lend Lease

G Brown 1998

The work in 1998, areas 1 and 2, was resricted to a narrow cable trench on the land immediately next to Nethergate, this trench had a maximum width of 1m which often got as thin as 0.6m. The total length of this trench was 90m though excavation only took place in the two areas that graveyard soil had survived.

During April and May 1998 the Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust carried out a small scale excavation on a previously known medieval graveyard located to the south of the City Churches precinct. The excavation was occasioned by the laying of new telecommunications cables, an enabling project for the new Overgate centre, and was confined to the contractor's slit trench along the Nethergate frontage. Only a small area of the cemetery was investigated, but the work has provided a further valuable insight into medieval burial practice in Dundee.

Trenching had begun opposite the east end of the City Churches, and this had already disturbed part of the graveyard when the Trust archaeologists first visited the site. It is difficult to ascertain the extent of the disturbance, as approximately 35m of the trench already had ducts and concrete in place. It was only really possible to view the graveyard soil where ductlaying operations had ceased, opposite the east end of the memorial flowerbed. For a distance of roughly 10m westwards of this point it was possible to view truncated burials in the sides of the open trench.

In these circumstances the primary objective was to record and remove any human remains which were directly threatened by the cable laying operations. This task was hampered by cramped working conditions within the confines of the narrow duct trench.

A subsiduary objective was to obtain more artefactual evidence for medieval burial practise. We also hoped to find datable material which could help refine the chronology of the graveyard. Pre-graveyard features, like the aforementioned ditch and bank, were considered likely discoveries; if such features were encountered then it was hoped that their date could be further elucidated.

The small amount of artefactual evidence recovered in this excavation unfortunately cannot provide the basis for conclusive dating of the cemetery. The pottery finds suggest that the cemetery was in use from the 12th to 15th centuries, a chronological span which agrees with the historical sources relating to St Mary's Church. It is of course possible that the burial ground was in use outside of this suggested time span, but with the level of evidence available to us it is impossible to be certain. The number of inhumations and the presence of intercutting burials also demonstrates use over a considerable time span. While reconstruction of the relative sequence of burials has not generally been possible, we have several instances where the evidence can be interpreted as burial in family plots or lairs. Such practices would require graves to have been marked on the surface, but no traces of any markers have survived. Grave stones would have been prohibitively expensive for all but the wealthiest members of society, and those people would, in all probability, have been buried inside the church. Plain markers might have been affordable at least for those of middle rank, and these would have allowed the demarcation of family plots or layers.

Only one major change in burial practice has been identified in the graveyard's use, this is the introduction of coffins; a feature likely to have been introduced late in the medieval period.

Information from SUAT

Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust. 1998. Excavation in the Medieval Burial Ground, City Churches Precinct, Nethergate, Dundee.

Four human skulls, found during the reconstruction of the Overgate Centre on the north side of the City Churches in 1999, had been redeposited in a pit, and were not in situ burials.

The bones exposed were human and probably medieval. They are not cemetery burials. It is likely that they have been redeposited (ie they have been disturbed in the past and reburied) either in the Victorian period or earlier this century.

Information from Dundee SMR; Coleman, R. 1999. Medieval Burial

During a watching brief by SUAT Ltd on a service trench on the south side of St Mary's Tower in 2000, three north-south aligned walls were noted, and some disarticulated human bones were disturbed. Two of the walls were probably former boundaries around the church dating to the 19th century and the 1960's. The bones were reburied on site.

The excavation for the required sewer pipe ran along the south side of the steeple 6.25m out from the steeple's south wall.

The excavated trench was 16.40m in length, a maximum of 0.90m deep and 0.25m wide at the base. It sloped down to thes west and ran from a trap in the pathway beside the church to the west boundary retaining wall.

At the east end of the trench were large fragments of mortared stonework that had been removed to accommodate the pipe trench. These remains were considered to be of a wall. At 8.60m from the east end of the trench were the remains of another wall, 0.50m wide and visible to a height of 0.30m. At 12.1m from the east end of the trench, a third wall was found measuring 0.45m high and 0.40m wide and which was not bottomed. All the walls were aligned north to south.

The function of the eastern most wall is uncertain, it may have been part of the 19th century landscaping and rebuilding work undertaken after a disastrous fire in 1841 destroyed the church. The middle wall is considered to be the revetting wall around the south side of the church on the east side of School Wynd as shown on the first edition ordnance survey map (1860's) which remained in place until the 1960's when the first Overgate shoppiung centre was built. The western most wall in the trench was the revetting wall built for the 1960's Overgate Centre. The west end of the trench was very close to the latest revetting wall built for the 2nd Overgate shopping centre which opened in 2000.

In section the stratigraphy revealed by the trench cut consisted of 0.30m turf and topsoil over raised beach gravel deposits. The gravel deposits at the bottom of the trench contained abundant disarticulated human bone indicating that the disturbed upper level of the medieval burial ground had been reached. The fragments of human bones were re-interred in the trench.

Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust. 2000. Watching Brief on Pipe Trench at Steeple Church Dundee

Alder archaeology was commissioned by Dundee City Council to undertake an archaeological watching brief (site code DD57) on excavations for a

commemorative stone for Mary Slessor at the City Churches, Dundee. The site was located at the SE corner of the raised grassed area on the S side of the City Churches just to the N of the Market Cross. It was considered likely that this area would have formed part of the medieval graveyard that was known to exist on the S side of the church. The site is also on the course of the former School Wynd, (later South Lindsay Street), an historic route passing on the W side of the church and joining Nethergate, which pre 19th Century was named Kirk Wynd. It is possible that Kirk Wynd may have formed the W boundary of St Mary’s Kirkyard in the medieval period.

The work took place 25 November 2014 in variable weather conditions. The excavations comprised a small test pit, 1m deep, to locate an electric cable and a 2 X 2m 0.50m deep excavation for the concrete base for the setting of the Mary Slessor commemorative stone. Both excavations revealed made up ground to a depth of at least 0.50m bottoming onto a compacted stony layer with modern finds. Although the electric cable test pit extended to a depth of 1m no traces of the burial ground or any other significant archaeological remains were encountered. It was concluded that buriels have either been removed, lie at a much lower level or that the site was outwith the burial ground. No further archaeological work is required for this project.

Information from Ray Cachart (Alder Archaeology).