Although excavation work was originally scheduled to finish on 28th August, Historic Scotland have given us a further two weeks to investigate the site. This has facilitated a more complete investigation of the ground plan of the castle.
Work on the north-western side of the platform has been focused on the site of the entrance to the castle, in an attempt to discover more about its structure. Projecting beyond the outer edge of the curtain wall on this side, the remains of two masonry piers have recently been discovered. A timber bridge across the moat would have been supported by these structures. The westernmost pier survives better than the other. Also in this area, evidence has been revealed that the double line of stakeholes on the line of the curtain wall are not earlier than the wall itself.
Ranges of buildings in the southern part of the castle.
Further to the west, a drain has been revealed, running through the west wall of the western corner tower. Also on the northern side of the platform, the fill of the oven or kiln has been partially investigated, revealing traces of heat-affected materials that may be analysed as part of the post-excavation programme. Zones of burnt clay around the kiln indicate that it is at least the second phase of kiln in that particular location.
An industrial workshop area behind the north-eastern curtain wall has also been investigated in more detail. The charcoal-rich deposits here are overlain by collapsed stonework from the adjacent curtain wall, showing that the wall stood to a height of 2-3 metres or more when the workshop was in use.
There appears to be no tower in the eastern corner of the castle. Here, the curtain walls may have met at a roughly right-angled corner.
LATEST FINDS
The recent investigation of the industrial areas of the site has produced further quantities of metalworking debris. Medieval pottery continues to be recovered, also, along with numbers of corroded iron objects, some of which are associated with the workshop area.
VISITORS
To mark National Archaeology Day, a series of tours of both the excavation and the later castle was conducted on Saturday 5th September. Visitors were also given a detailed talk about the artefacts from the excavation and were able to see finds and samples processing work in action.
Click here to continue your tour
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