Building record MAB27775 - EPISCOPAL MEETING HOUSE, ADEN COUNTRY PARK

Remains of a possible Episcopal meeting house.

Remains of a possible Episcopal meeting house. Two structures, one T-plan, the other rectangular, have been recorded by excavations carried out in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021. Excavation was carried out by Cameron Archaeology in 2015 as part of the Book of Deer Project recorded. Phase 1 of the T-plan structure (Structure 1) comprised a stone foundation circa 23m long and circa 6.5m wide, with the short arm of the building circa 6m by 7.5m. It was constructed of large granite and quartz boulders. No floor remains were uncovered and no dating evidence recovered. In phase 2 large stones were rolled over the bank which was the remains of the demolished structure. A large stone 'platform' was also uncovered. A few finds were recovered including a Charles I/II bawbee of the 17th century and post medieval and modern glass and pottery. Structure 2, was recorded to the north, comprising a rectangular stone foundation 15.3m long and 4.3m wide, but no dating evidence was found. These structures are not shown on the OS 1st or 2nd edition maps. Further excavation of the T-plan structure carried out in 2016 as part of the Book of Deer Project suggested that this may have been a medieval tower house later reused as a meeting house. Finds from this later use included late 18th century coins, a copper alloy heart-shaped brooch, and copper alloy book fittings. The other structure may have had an agricultural and possibly domestic use. Inside the south wall was a hearth surrounded by a well-laid cobbled floor, and a stone lined pit was recorded in the northeast corner of the north room. A total 388 fragments of glass were recovered in 2016, their characteristics indicating two phases of glazing at the site, one in the later 16th-early 17th centuries, the other in the mid-later half of the 17th century. Further excavation was carried out in August-September 2019, fully revealing the T-plan building. This could be the Keith family ‘fortalico’ identified in charters of 1592 and 1612. Stone demolition material was removed over the interior revealing burnt wood over clay floor levels, the wood dated to the 17th to mid 18th century, suggesting the building could have burned down in the mid 18th century. All the walls had been heavily robbed, (possibly to build the early phase of the Aden Mansion House after 1758 when the Russel family purchased the estate). Many years later (possibly in the 20th century) large stones were added to the demolished foundations. Finds from the 2019 investigations included parts of three spectacles, as well as coins (mainly 17th century bawbees and Turners) and window glass but no domestic rubbish. The building to the north was also further uncovered. The rectangular building (Structure 2) was more fully uncovered during excavation in 2021. The building measures circa 14.6m by 4.6m, of three rooms, the walls constructed of medium and small stones bonded with sandy clay. The south room has a hearth on the south wall with a cobbled surface around, otherwise an earthen floor. The fireplace appears to have been a hanging lum. A slate found on the floor surface has scratches on one surface – VV or WW – and has been suggested to be an apotropaic mark. There is a door in the north end of the east wall. The central room could not be fully investigated given the presence of large tree roots, but the west wall of the room has a recess that could possibly be interpreted as a niche for a box bed. The north room two doors, one on the centre of the west wall, the other opposite. The north wall is of more unusual construction, of enormous earthfast stones. Beneath a clay floor was an earlier cobbled floor. In the northeast corner of the room is a stone-lined pit constructed after the building went out of use: it is associated with a small fire pit. The building probably combined agricultural and domestic use. A number of small trenches were also excavated in 2021 through the foundations of the T-plan structure, recovering charcoal which may help ascertain a date of construction. No dating evidence has been found for Structure 2 although this is thought to be contemporary. One charcoal sample from the foundations of the T-plan building gave a date of 1478-1637 AD, and other a second sample was later but was possibly intrusive. Other samples from the floor of the chapel gave radiocarbon dates between 1726 and 1806 AD. The conclusion from all four seasons of excavation is that this site comprises the remains of a post 1500s chapel, of one storey with associated domestic structure (described as a ‘possible ‘manse’). Documentary research suggests that this could be the Episcopal meeting house of the Rev William Livingstone which was burned to rubble by British Army soldiers in 1746. The OS 1st edition map shows a 'boot' shaped enclosure around the site of the buildings in this corner of the field, but the buildings are not depicted. The enclosure walls formed by large boulders roughly worked on one side for form an edge on the northwest facade. A walkover of the wood also revealed a clearance cairn. During the 2016 excavation, seventeen residual lithic artefacts, all of prehistoric date, were found amongst the building remains. Fifteen are of flint, comprising nine flakes, three cores, a plano-convex knife, an end scraper and a piercer, the remaining two of quartz, both flakes. Analysis suggests the flint is from north-east England, the lithics of later Neolithic date.

Period Notes
Radiocarbon dating, T-shaped building: SUERC-72458 (GU43309), 182+/_29 BP, calibrated to 1652 AD or later. Charcoal from foundations of the T-plan building: SUERC-106028 (GU62188), 209+/-21 BP, calibrated to AD 1648 -1804 at 2 sigma: SUERC-106029 (GU62189), 339+/-24 BP, calibrated to 1478 - 1637 AD at 2 sigma. Samples of burnt wood on floor of chapel: SUERC-72458 (GU43309), 182 +/-29 BP, calibrated to 1726-1814 AD at 2 sigma: SUERC-72462 (GU43310) 210 +/- 25 BP, calibrated to 1736-1805 AD at 2 sigma: SUERC-72463 (GU43311) , 209 +/- 29 BP, calibrated to 1735-1806 AD at 2 sigma: SUERC-72464 (GU43312), 230 +/- 29 BP, calibrated to 1635-1684 AD at 2 sigma.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 31/08/16 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2015, ADEN COUNTRY PARK, ABERDEENSHIRE: WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION (WSI) AND COSTING, WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB6692.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2015, BOOK OF DEER PROJECT 2015: ADEN COUNTRY PARK AND OLD DEER PARISH CHURCH: DATA STRUCTURE REPORT, Excavation DSR (Bibliographic reference). SAB6723.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2016, ADEN COUNTRY PARK, ABERDEENSHIRE: EXZCAVATION REPORT AND DATA STRUCTURE REPORT, Excavation DSR (Bibliographic reference). SAB6745.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2016, ADEN COUNTRY PARK, ABERDEENSHIRE: POST-EXCAVATION RESEARCH DESIGN (PERD), PERD (Bibliographic reference). SAB6777.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2016, ADEN COUNTRY PARK, ABERDEENSHIRE: WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION (WSI) AND COSTING FOR PROPOSED PROJECT 2016, WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB6724.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2017, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 17, 2016, p. 20 (Bibliographic reference). SAB6497.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2019, ADEN COUNTRY PARK, ABERDEENSHIRE: EXCAVATION REPORT AND DATA STRUCTURE REPORT CA464 (INCORPORATING CA267), Excavation report (Bibliographic reference). SAB8217.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2021, ADEN COUNTRY PARK, ABERDEENSHIRE: EXCAVATION REPORT AND DATA STRUCTURE REPORT CA509 (INCORPORATING CA267, CA464, CA509), Excavation DSR (Bibliographic reference). SAB8234.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2021, ADEN COUNTRY PARK, ABERDEENSHIRE: METHOD STATEMENT FOR EXCAVATION 16-18 AUGUST 2021, WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB8218.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2022, ADEN COUNTRY PARK: POST-EXCAVATION RESEARCH DESIGN FOR EXCAVATIONS 2016-2021, PERD (Bibliographic reference). SAB8535.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2022, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 22 (2021), p.18 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8314.

CAMERON, A, 2024, ADEN COUNTRY PARK: A NEOLITHIC ENCLOSURE, POST-REFORMATION CHAPEL, 18TH C MANSION HOUSE AND A 19TH C MILITARY TRAINING GROUND (Bibliographic reference). SAB8688.

Author unknown, n.d., EVENING EXPRESS, 01/09/16 p. 14 (Bibliographic reference). SAB446.

Record last edited

Jun 17 2024 12:53PM