Kirkwall, St Magnus Cathedral, Graveyard
Burial Ground (Medieval), Human Remains (Medieval)
Site Name Kirkwall, St Magnus Cathedral, Graveyard
Classification Burial Ground (Medieval), Human Remains (Medieval)
Canmore ID 180790
Site Number HY41SW 10.03
NGR HY 44982 10867
NGR Description Centred HY 44982 10867
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/180790
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Kirkwall And St Ola
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Orkney
- Former County Orkney
HY41SW 10.03 centred 4499 1086
Watching Brief (28 August 2015 - 9 December 2015)
An archaeological watching brief undertaken during ground-breaking works associated with the installation of an oil tank and supply pipe for St Magnus Cathedral. Archaeological features and deposits were preserved on the site, potentially relating to the medieval period, as well as deposits and features relating to the nineteenth- and early twentieth- century reorganisation of the kirkyard with a number of possible graves and grave plots tentatively identified within the excavated area. A significant area of the kirkyard area appears to have been truncated during the construction of a deep sewer to the southwest of the site in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. A number of disarticulated and commingled human remains were recovered during the watching brief. An osteoarchaeological analysis of 73 human skeletal elements/ fragments indicated that the remains represent a minimum number of six individuals from within St. Magnus Cathedral cemetery.
Information from C Gee - Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology
OASIS ID: orkneyre1-239840
Watching Brief (4 March 2024 - 11 March 2024)
HY 44959 10885 Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA) undertook an archaeological watching brief during the preparatory groundworks for the installation of a new boiler flue and duct enclosure next to the north transept of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. Human remains were encountered in two trenches, both of which were likely juveniles or young adults of medieval date. One of the inhumations was protected and recovered, while the other was archaeologically recorded, excavated, and reburied in the north-west of the graveyard.
The line of a wall, likely of medieval date and aligned with the cathedral, was recorded close to one of the inhumations. The excavation of the new grave for the reburial was also subject to archaeological watching brief, and this recorded a layer of domestic waste comprising animal bone, building rubble and ceramics of post-medieval date. No human remains were encountered.
Information from G Talbot - Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology.
OASIS ID: orkneyre1-525850
