Arbroath, Hospitalfield
Burial Ground (Period Unassigned), Chapel (Period Unassigned)(Possible)
Site Name Arbroath, Hospitalfield
Classification Burial Ground (Period Unassigned), Chapel (Period Unassigned)(Possible)
Canmore ID 35538
Site Number NO64SW 10
NGR NO 6262 4000
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/35538
- Council Angus
- Parish Arbroath And St Vigeans
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Angus
- Former County Angus
NO64SW 10 6262 4000.
See also NO64SW 9.00.
In 1861 and again in 1889 during improvements on the Hospitalfield Estate a large number of human skeletons were discovered on a sandy hillock immediately E of Hospitalfield Lodge. Excavations revealed the burials to lie in rows, the skeletons fully extended, with the heads to the SW. Between 100 and 120 inhumations were recovered, but no trace of either coffin or shroud was identified. The foundations of a building to the SE of the burial ground were discovered during the same operation, and were thought to be the foundations of the Chapel of St John, which was associated with the hospital described on NO64SW 9, and appears in records in 1464 and 1485.
A Jervise 1864; J Brodie 1904; I B Cowan and D E Easson 1976; SBS Arbroath 1982.
Archaeological Evaluation (10 January 2011 - 13 January 2011)
NO 6260 4000 (centred on) An evaluation was undertaken 10–13 January 2011 on open ground to the W of the Red Lion Caravan Park. The area was considered sensitive as it is adjacent to the SW corner of the scheduled grounds of Hospitalfield House. These grounds probably formed part of the lands of the medieval hospital of St John the Baptist, which first appears on record in 1352. In 1861 and 1889 burials and building foundations, which were thought to be part of the chapel and burial ground, were found to E of the grounds (NO64SW 10), within the current caravan site. The W boundary of the hospital lands that may have been marked by Geordie’s Burn also passes roughly N–S through the centre of the proposed development. On the basis of this data it was considered that outlying buildings, enclosures and/or burials associated with the hospital may have been located in the area.
A total of 16 trenches of between 7–30m in length were machine excavated. A major deep sewer was located to the W of Geordie’s Burn and its placement had effectively destroyed any archaeological deposits, reducing the evaluation area by about half in this area. A sequence of topsoil and made ground was recorded overlying a former ground surface. The remains of 19th-century lodge and a driveway leading to Hospitalfield House were also located. An earlier cobbled surface/driveway was found to the W of the driveway noted above.
A sequence consisting of previously buried topsoil, overlying deep deposits of a thickly banded natural silty sand and clayey silt subsoil, which bottomed onto yellow orange sand, was also recorded. Early 19th-century cobble field drains and three 19th-century rubbish pits had been cut into the subsoil deposits. A large 19th-century soakaway with side drains was found in a trench on the W side of Geordie’s Burn. No remains relating to the Hospital of St John the Baptist were recorded.
Archive: RCAHMS (intended)
Funder: Loch Earn Caravan Parks Ltd
Alder Archaeology Ltd, 2011
