City Wharf
E89
DescriptionEvaluation carried out Aberdeen City Council Archaeological Unit in May 2003 ahead of proposed development of an area between Ship Row and Virginia Street demonstrated the survival of medieval and later deposits in the car park area off Shiprow and adjacent to the NCP entrance in Virginia Street. Two areas, one on the east side of Shiprow, and one on the north side of Virginia Street were subsequently investigated in 2007 and 2008 respectively. The excavation at the Ship Row car park site uncovered the remains of one end of a building. A basement with a cobbled floor survived to a depth of 2m. Some of the stones of the blocked up doorway are made from worked sandstone, possibly reused from an earlier structure. The excavated building was similar to Provost Ross's House (NJ90NW0013) on the opposite side of Ship Row, with the same rubble construction and very similar window surrounds. During demolition of the excavated building ceramic tiles, oyster shell and stone slates were found between the wall: these had been used to level up the walls, a known method of medieval wall construction. The cobbled floors may date to the original construction of the building. The presence of nearly 1m depth of soils below the cobbles but above the natural was also noted. A scattering of 19th century pottery was found immediately above the cobbles. Trial trenching at Virginia Street recorded trenches a band of dark compact soil, containing a considerable quantity of medieval pottery. In Trench 5 several features of medieval date were recorded including wooden drains, platforms for working and a post-hole, all probably representing the drainage and reclamation of this waterlogged area close to the harbour. A pit in trench 6 may have been for charcoal making or for use in a process using charcoal such as smoking fish. See also NJ90NW1162NotesCameron, A. (2008a) 'City Wharf, Aberdeen City (Aberdeen parish), evaluation and excavation', Discovery Excav Scot, New, vol. 9, 2008. Cathedral Communications Limited, Wiltshire, England. Page(s): 12Reference Numbers
- NJ90NW0922
- 298438
