Brechin, Bishop's Close
Building(S) (18th Century), Midden (Period Unassigned), Pit (Medieval), Pottery Scatter (Medieval), Road (Period Unassigned), Stable (Period Unassigned)(Possible), Wall (13th Century), Yard (Medieval), Coin(S) (13th Century), Coin(S) (13th Century), Pitcher (Pottery)(13th Century)
Site Name Brechin, Bishop's Close
Classification Building(S) (18th Century), Midden (Period Unassigned), Pit (Medieval), Pottery Scatter (Medieval), Road (Period Unassigned), Stable (Period Unassigned)(Possible), Wall (13th Century), Yard (Medieval), Coin(S) (13th Century), Coin(S) (13th Century), Pitcher (Pottery)(13th Century)
Canmore ID 90977
Site Number NO56SE 71
NGR NO 5968 6011
NGR Description Centred on NO 5968 6011
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/90977
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- Council Angus
- Parish Brechin
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Angus
- Former County Angus
NO56SE 71 5968 6011
In advance of alterations, trial trenching was carried out by R Will of Scotia Archaeology Ltd in February 1995, in the entranceway to the manse on the south side of Bishop's Close. Three trenches were opened: trench 1 produced modern glass and china and one sherd of medieval redware; trench 2 produced a possible hearthstone; and trench 3 produced sherds of modern bottle glass and china.
NMRS MS/733/106
NO 596 601 The resurfacing of parts of these roads was preceded by the removal of 0.45-0.60m of deposits that underlay the existing tarmac, the exposed deposits and features being investigated by Scotia Archaeology Limited. Below the make-up for the tarmac road in Bishop's Close, were sections of an earlier road comprising rounded pebbles, up to 0.12m across, set into sand. Artefacts indicated that the cobbled road was of 19th century date.
Trenching in Church Lane revealed several inhumations cut by an existing sewer pipe trench. These burials may once have been within the nearby graveyard which had been foreshortened.
Sponsor: Tayside Regional Council.
R Murdoch 1995
Excavation (31 August 2009 - 11 September 2009)
NO 5966 6012 This was a community excavation, undertaken 31 August–11 September 2009 by volunteers from Brechin and the surrounding area. The site, made available by Brechin Cathedral, was an open area at the edge of the grounds of the medieval bishop’s palace.
The 18th- and 19th-century foundations recorded were probably those of subsidiary buildings, possibly including a stable, associated with the Cathedral treasurer’s manse. The foundations overlay a deep deposit of stratified medieval garden earth which yielded considerable quantities of medieval pottery and two coins of late 13th- and 14th-century date. Part of a large pit or possible ditch and some structural remains pre-dating the garden soil were partially revealed and also appear to be medieval.
Report: Aberdeenshire SMR and RCAHMS (intended)
Funder: Heritage Lottery Fund and Angus Council City of Brechin Townscape Heritage Initiative
HK Murray – Murray Archaeological Services Ltd
Excavation (18 June 2010 - 30 June 2010)
NO 5966 6012 During the 2009 excavation a deep deposit of medieval midden and garden earth was discovered below later buildings (DES 2009, 31). In the 18–30 June 2010 season this deposit was excavated and earlier medieval features were revealed below it. A well-built stone wall of probable 13th-century date ran along the N side of this part of Bishop’s Close. This was almost certainly a wall enclosing the precinct around the residence of the medieval bishops of Brechin. Inside the wall there was a roughly paved yard around a huge, almost 1.5m deep pit. The pit seems to have originally been a timber-lined well that was later used as a cess pit. An almost complete 13th/14th-century Low Countries greyware pitcher was found in the fill. Later, there appears to have been a fire with thick deposits of ash and burnt material filling the pit and covering the yard. For over a hundred years the area seems to have been used as a midden and this material covered the wall, the yard and the well. Coins from the midden date from AD 1247–1310.
Reports: Aberdeenshire SMR and RCAHMS (intended)
Funder: Heritage Lottery Fund and Angus Council City of Brechin Townscape Heritage Initiative
HK and JC Murray – Murray Archaeological Services Ltd
Information also reported in Oasis (mas1-113773) 26 March 2013
