Document record MAB51022 - LAZARUS LANE

Medieval site recorded in excavations at a number of locations between North College Street and South College Street in 1976 and 1977 in advance of construction of the relief road.

Medieval site recorded in excavations at a number of locations between North College Street and South College Street in 1976 and 1977 in advance of construction of the relief road. A well and several hearths and pits of late medieval date were recorded. Pottery, iron slag, stained glass, wooden comb, iron key, leather, post medieval kiln furniture found. A sherd of a pottery, part of an inscribed dish was also recovered, which is of French Beauvais lead-glazed earthenware. Pottery finds also included pieces of Iron Age date. A pit containing fragments of stained glass was revealed in the final days of the excavation. A total of 400 pieces of coloured glass, some with pieces of lead beading attached were recovered, although most was in poor condition. About a tenth of the pieces were decorated with painted motifs, including floral and fleur-de-lis scrolls. The glass is 13th century, probably dating from before 1280, and of geometric grisaille design, and is almost certainly from the early development of the cathedral. It was probably removed from the cathedral to extract the lead which, with the roof lead, was collected during the 16th or 17th century. Thirty shards of medieval window glass from Elgin Cathedral have been subjected to compositional analysis by portable-X-Ray Fluorescence and Scanning Electron Microscopy –Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. The results suggests the majority of the glass was probably produced in France, while a smaller group may have been made in Germany. Two distinct blue glasses compositions were identified. The composition of the grisaille paint differs from paint on the continent providing the first evidence that it was made with local Scottish lead and iron pigments. Analysis in 1982 of pottery from Elgin sites included 17 sherds from Lazarus Lane, at least 10 of which were buff or orange wares made locally, the others include two pieces of Sieburg ware and one piece of Scarborough ware.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 19/01/77 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

LINDSAY, W, 1976, DES,44, 44 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1069.

CRACKNELL, S, 1977, CURRENT WORK ON ELGIN POTTERY, TYPESCRIPT (Bibliographic reference). SAB290.

CRACKNELL, S, 1982, AN ANALYSIS OF POTTERY FROM ELGIN AND NE SCOTLAND. IM MEDIEVAL CERAMICS - BULLETIN OF THE MED POTTERY RES GROUP, 6, PP52-65 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8858.

SUAT, 1994, ELGIN BURGH SURVEY: ARCHAEOLOGICAL UPDATE, 8, 13-14 (Bibliographic reference). SAB4738.

SPENCER, H, 2015, ANNALES DU 20E CONGRÈS DE L'ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONALE POUR L'HISTOIRE DU VERRE. AIHV, PP. 672-679, (Bibliographic reference). SAB4880.

SPENCER , H M, 2018, COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS OF MEDIEVAL WINDOW GLASS FROM ELGIN CATHEDRAL IN ARCHAEOMETRY, 60, NO. 5, 1018-1035 (Bibliographic reference). SAB4881.

Jan 1 1976 , AAS/GR/76/CT179, 183, AAS/GR/76/CT179, 183 (Ground Photograph). SAB32455.

Jan 1 1977 , AAS/GR/77/CT03, AAS/GR/77/CT03 (Ground Photograph). SAB32466.

Record last edited

Feb 4 2025 12:15PM