Gallowgate Middle School
E34
DescriptionExcavation in 1991 by Aberdeen City Council Archaeological Unit of a potential medieval frontage site recorded medieval remains. Three areas on the frontage of the site were excavated following the demolition of the Gallowgate Middle School. The site lay on the main medieval route out of Aberdeen to the north. The earliest features discovered on this site were late 12th to early 13th century midden layers and large pit containing cobbling waste, boots, shoes and leather trimmings from boots and shoes as well as a large amount of bone. Over 50 shoe soles, a wooden 'paddle', probably for processing flax and many sherds of late 12th-century cooking pots were recovered from the pit.
19th century tenements and the school's swimming pool had destroyed much of the archaeological remains, but under the pool, after it had been removed, a wooden barrel was discovered. Dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) dated the barrel to the late 14th century. It was also determined that the wood used to construct the barrel had originally come from Pomerania in Poland on the Baltic Sea.
Location InfoNational Grid Reference: NJ 9419 0657
Easting: 394191.776464888, Northing: 806571.646661814
Postcode: AB25 1DX
"The site lay on the main medieval route out of Aberdeen" to the N, along Gallowgate and past the intersection at Littlejohn Street. (Cameron 2001)
NotesSee Cameron, A. and Stones, J. (ed.) (2001). Aberdeen: An In-Depth View of the City's Past. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Monograph Series No. 19. 73-82, for a detailed account of the excavation. Cameron, A. (1992b) 'Gallowgate Middle School, Aberdeen (Aberdeen parish): medieval leather', Discovery Excav Scot, 1992. Page(s): 35Reference Numbers
- NJ90NW0270
- NJ90NW268
- 76248
