Dunfermline, Priory Lane, Lauder Technical College

NT08NE 112 0936 8721

For Lauder Technical College gymnasium and Textile school (demolished before excavation), see NT08NE 171 and NT08NE 173 respectively.

For Lauder Technical College and the old high school that still exist on this site and have been converted to dwellings, see NT08NE 56 and NT08NE 172 respectively.

Trial trenches by Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust (SUAT) in January 1993 were followed by pre-development excavations by J Lewis, Scotia Archaeology Limited, in January - March 1993.

Trenches of SUAT trial excavations located at:

'A' NT 0936 8721 'B' NT 0931 8719

'C' NT 0929 8718 'D' NT 0924 8717

Information: Mr D Bowler, SUAT, March 1993.

Trial excavations were carried out during January 1993 on the W side of New Row and to the N of Priory Lane, the site of old Lauder College. The site crossed the suggested line of the eastern precinct wall of the Dunfermline Abbey. It also included part of the New Row frontage, which by the 15th century had developed into a thriving suburb.

Excavation revealed the precinct wall of the abbey (NT08NE 1.01) 0.50m below the modern ground surface running N to S. There was also a distinct difference in the archaeological sequence on either side of the wall. On the eastern side were the backlands of the properties extending westwards from the New Row frontage producing 15th-century pottery. On the western side of the wall, and therefore within the abbey precinct, were garden soils containing building debris, possibly from structures built against the precinct wall.

Sponsor: Fife Regional Council

R Coleman 1993.

NT 093 872 Excavation was carried out by Scotia Archaeology Ltd over a three-month period in advance of a major programme of development within the grounds of the former college. Of the twenty trenches opened, five were excavated by hand, the remainder being machine-dug while a watching brief was kept.

In two trenches, at the E end of the site, were found the lower courses of a N-S stretch of the precinct wall of Dunfermline Abbey. Extending eastwards from this wall were the remnants of what are thought to be backland divisions, probably associated with late 15th-century occupation on New Row. Within one of these backlands and directly abutting the precinct wall was a masonry structure, measuring 7.Om by 2.Om internally and divided into two unequal chambers, each floored with sandstone flags: its walls were very fragmentary. Artefactual evidence suggests a date within the 16th or 17th century. The structure may have been associated with the tanning or textile industry, perhaps as a soaking tank.

To the E of the 'tank', but earlier than it, was a corn-drying kiln from which were recovered seeds of barley and oats.

To the immediate W of the precinct wall and parallel to it was a ditch, about lm deep. The ditch had been infilled deliberately, evidently just prior to the construction of the wall.

In the extreme NW corner of the site were the fragmentary remains of a two-phase building of probable abbey construction although it was not possible to ascertain its function. Most of the remainder of the site, which measured up to 145m by 53m, appeared to be devoid of structural remains.

Sponsors: Fife Regional Council, Fife Enterprise, Historic Scotland, Carnegie Dunfermline Trust.

J Lewis 1994b.

A rescue excavation on the site of the former Lauder Technical College revealed a stretch of the precinct wall, probably dating from the 14th century, of Dunfermline Abbey and, underlying it, an earlier boundary ditch. Within one of the burgage plots laid out against the precinct wall were the remains of a medieval corn-drying kiln and a structure thought to be a loom stance, dating from the early 19th century.

J Lewis 1995