New Monograph:
Martin Brann
with contributions from
Donal Bateson, Ruby Cerón-Carrasco, Ray Chadburn,
Adrian Cox, Anne Crone, Althea L Davies, Alastair Dawson
Susan Dawson, Derek W Hall, Mhairi K Hastie,
Mervin Kontrowitz, Robin Murdoch, Mark I Noel,
Euphemia Photos-Jones, Catherine Smith, David Smith,
Richard Tipping, Eileen Tisdall, Andrew Tyler
and Caroline Wickham-Jones
Illustrations by
Dave Munro, Frank Moran and David Simon
Through SUAT, and in conjunction with Historic Scotland, the society has published an account of the excavations which took place at the 'Old Castle' of Caerlaverock. The publication, A4 format, viii and 128pp, numerous illustrations (line drawings, ½-tones and in colour) is priced at £10.00 + post and packing.
For further information, or to obtain copies, please contact the Hon.Secretary, R H McEwen, 5 Arthur's Place, Lockerbie DG112EB - for e-mail address see the Contacts Page of this WebSite.
Abstract |
| SUAT Ltd was
commissioned by Historic Scotland to undertake excavation
and survey work on the site of the earlier of the two
13th-century castles built by the Maxwells at
Caerlaverock, 9 miles south of Dumfrics on the Solway
shore (NGR: NY 027 654). The first or 'Old’ Castle
is believed to have been established in the late 1220s,
and abandoned only 50 years later in favour of the
surviving triangular plan castle 200 m further inland.
The aim of the work was to inform a scheme for the
laying-out and interpretation of the Site to visitors. |
| The castle
mound and enclosing wet ditch of Caerlaverock Old Castle
is typical of medieval moated sites, but with additional
enclosures annexed to the north and a basin interpreted
as a tidal harbour to the south-west. |
| Two seasons
of excavation in 1998 and 1999 demonstrated a sequential
structural development on the castle mound. Following the
digging of the enclosing moat ditch (Phase 1), building
appears to have started in the east corner of the
platform within the moat with a two-storied stone-built
chamber block with an external stair (Phase 2). A
timber-built ground-floor hall accompanied it, and a
third, small timber structure occupying the north corner
completed the initial group of buildings. A stone curtain
wall (Phase 3) was subsequently built around the mound
perimeter, and the timber hall was then replaced (Phase
4) with a three-bay stone-built hall, erected against the
south-west curtain. Padstones indicate that a more
substantial timber-framed building replaced the Phase 2
structure in the north corner. Infill building (Phase 5)
created a continuous L-shaped range, which was further
updated with the addition of a pentise along one side of
the courtyard. The addition of three corner towers (Phase
6), added to the north, west, and south angles, was the
final building phase, and points to the existence of a
Phase 5 tower at the east corner forming part of the
Maxwell’s private quarters. |
| Archaeomagnetic
dating of two hearths within the hall indicated last
firings in the ranges 1250-75 and 1250-1310. |
| The
excavations produced a large assemblage of good-quality,
probably locally produced, green-glazed pottery thought
to be of 13th-century date, together with the first find
of Islamic glass from a Scottish medieval context.
Post-abandonment activity on the castle mound included
the construction of a keyhole-shaped oven or grain-drying
kiln and smithing activity. |
| In addition
to work on the castle platform, a trial trench across the
flat-bottomed moat was opened up on the presumed line of
the bridge, to relocate a surviving element of a timber
bridge found and sampled for dendrochronological dating
in 1978. |
| Fieldwalking
in the surrounding woods revealed a previously unmapped
subrectangular enclosure 70 m to the south-west of the
castle mound. The enclosure, measuring approximately 70 m
north-south by 50 m east-west, is enclosed on the west,
north and east sides by a low bank (approximately 0.3 m
high by 2 m wide), with an external ditch just
perceptible. The south side of the enclosure is formed by
a long double-banked earthwork, mapped by the Ordnance
Survey and interpreted as the boundary of managed
woodland associated with the later castle. |
| Environmental
evidence points to dramatic coastal change and periodic
inundation of the site by the sea. This may have occurred
during the 13th century and precipitated the evident
sinking of some of the castle structures into the
underlying clay. It provides a clue as to why the
Maxwells were forced to abandon the castle after such a
short period of occupation. |
Page last updated 5th December 2004 |