St Fittick's Church, graveyard and manse
E77
DescriptionAn excavation in the area of the manse (NJ90SE0155) was carried out by Aberdeen City Council Archaeological Unit in September 2004 following a geophysical survey of the area shown on the 1901 OS map. The areas targeted for excavation were the manse, the agricultural buildings and the garden. The earliest features excavated were a substantial building wall with footing and a stone line for terracing. The medieval structural wall was seen in the corner of a sondage under the path or driveway of the later manse. It was 60cm wide, but its full width was not revealed. It was constructed of small to medium granite fieldstones bonded with mortar. Its footing extended 20cm from the edge of the wall. The wall was not excavated, but the garden soil layers banked up against and on top of this wall contained only medieval pottery, bone and shell. The stone line for terracing was seen in three sondages dug inside the later manse. It was constructed of one to two courses of large fieldstones which had been set into garden or plough soil. The layers associated with this feature contained a small number of abraded medieval pottery sherds. It is possible that this was a terracing feature to allow cultivation on the slope and discourage the erosion of the plough soil through wind and water action. The foundation of the manse was constructed of large fieldstones bonded with mortar. It was c 1m wide and survived to 0.70m deep. The full depth of the foundation did not survive, some of it having been removed during demolition. This is known because contemporary photographs show that there were two steps up into the building, whereas only the foundation of these steps survived on excavation. The internal width of the manse was 11.80m. It is known from interviews with local people that this south- facing aspect of the house consisted of three floors whilst the northern (upslope) part of the building had only two floors. There were steps within the manse going down into the southern part of the building although these were not within the excavation area. A path or driveway, was c 3.6m wide and was uncovered between the front of the manse and the garden wall. Due to the changes in ground level, the wall was still standing to a height of c 0.5 - 1m where it bounded the garden of the manse. Three steps which had led from the drive into the garden were also uncovered. The garden area had been filled with demolition material from the manse, including stonework and mortar. One section of the wall of the manse had remained intact when it had fallen into the garden where it was first thought to be another wall in situ. Under the driveway, two lengths of lead pipe were uncovered. They were recorded but not excavated. The wall dividing the garden from the nearby agricultural area was uncovered. Its solid rubble foundation was topped with a less substantial structure which included the use of stone, concrete, brick and roof tile. It maybe that this represented a repair to the wall. Finds from the garden area were mainly 19th and early 20th century in date and were concentrated at the base of the wall outside the garden as though a large amount of crockery had been smashed on the outside of the garden wall. An upstanding wall was investigated and was the east wall of a long building for agricultural use. This building was 4m wide internally and called 'The Piggery' by a local farmer who farmed the surrounding land in the early 20th century. A large trench was positioned over this building. The west wall of the building was identified towards the north of the building and a series of cobbled surfaces were revealed. In the north, bounded by a mortared stone wall was a room with an earthen floor, later patched with a floor made from broken fragments of stone roof tile. South of this was a room with a floor made from water-worn beach pebbles. This room was set 0.49m lower than the room to the north. There was no west wall of the building at this point and it is assumed that there was a large barn door which did not need a foundation. The exterior cobbled floor sloped down slightly from north to south. This surface had been patched a number of times with poured concrete. At the south of this room, an area of cobbles set 0.16m lower than the main floor represented a channel for liquid waste (known locally as a greep or grepe). This aligned with a runnel or drain (c 0.10m deep) which ran from inside the building across the external courtyard, to channel waste materials from these floor surfaces. Its sides and base were lined with waterworn cobbles. Adjacent to this structure, an oval feature in the cobbled surface had been constructed (0.20m deep). The sides were lined with waterworn cobbles but the base was unlined. The purpose for which this was constructed is uncertain. At the south of this trench the topsoil was very shallow and the south end of the building had been completely demolished leaving no traces of flooring or walls. To the south of the site, a further trench contained a clinker and metalled surface. A field drain had been cut through this surface.Location InfoNational Grid Reference: NJ 9621 0494
Easting: 396212.381718275, Northing: 804945.653311186
Reference Numbers
- 20234
- NJ90SE0213
