Document record MAB58731 - ABBEY STREET, OLD DEER

A single trench was excavated by MAS in 2012 (as part of the Book of Deer Project) in the grassed area between the Episcopal Church and Abbey Street.

A single trench was excavated by MAS in 2012 (as part of the Book of Deer Project) in the grassed area between the Episcopal Church and Abbey Street. The area had probably been open ground from the construction of the church in 1851. It fronted the wide east end of Abbey Street where the market would have been held, probably from the medieval period. The excavation revealed the foundations of two solid clay walls, between 550 mm and 800 mm wide and up to 300 mm high, between which was a band of closely set cobbles set on the natural clay. Trodden surfaces on the other sides of each wall suggested that the walls belonged to separate buildings on the street frontage of Abbey Street either side of a cobbled path. Given the width of the church property frontage it is likely that there had originally been three properties on the site. Whilst possible that these were medieval or late medieval in date, it is more likely that they date from the 17th or 18th century. It is assumed that the buildings were cleared away at the time of, or shortly before, the church was constructed. The majority of finds from the excavation were from the topsoil or destruction spreads from the clay walls and were of 19th-20th century date and some could have derived from brought in soil used to level the site.

MURRAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES, 2012, BOOK OF DEER PROJECT EXCAVATIONS 2012, OLD DEER, ABERDEENSHIRE, MAS 2012-26 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5033.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2013, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 13, 2012, p.25 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5487.

Record last edited

Aug 25 2022 12:54PM