The following detailed descriptions of our activities and finds at Lanark Friary was included in "Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 1999", published by the Council for Scottish Archaeology.
Excavation started in
July 1999 on a strip of land between the Clydesdale Hotel and the Bank
of Scotland on the former site of the offices of Cox's Garages. This strip
of land was to be developed as a pedestrian access into the housing scheme
being built by Richard Hogg and Company, Carluke. A trench which was 1.00
metre wide and 22.5 metres long was opened up on the eastern side of the
planned pedestrian access. The purpose of this trench was to find the foundations
of two buildings known to have been on the site from early maps and photographs.
Recording was deemed necessary as even shallow excavation for a path could
have destroyed evidence of their existence. More or less immediately evidence
of the north wall of a seventeenth century building was discovered at the
northern end of the trench. The rubble built foundations were cemented
with lime but quite badly damaged and were about 65cm wide.
The top level of the trench was a fairly consistent 20- 25cm in depth. This level contained a variety of different finds but almost everywhere there were the smashed remains of a large quantity late eighteenth/early nineteenth century glass. Other finds in this level included one stem of a late eighteenth century wine glass, a wig curler and a number of pipe stems but unfortunately no bowls. Mixed in with these finds were a number of fragments of late Mediaeval pottery.
Ten metres from the northern end of the trench this top level had been dug into, to build a brick wall about 90cm across, which was left undisturbed. It was thought to be part of the foundations of the offices of Cox's Garage which was built as early as the 1900's at a time when the Cox family owned the Clydesdale Hotel.
In the area up to the brick wall another rough foundation was encountered running slightly diagonally across the trench about 2.80 metres from the wall of the seventeenth century house. It was not considered to have anything to do with the rear wall of the seventeenth century house which would have been fairly substantial.
Running under the top black layer of soil was a layer of rubble which varied in depth from just a few centimetres to about 80cm in depth. It was in this layer that bits of stone roofing tiles and late Mediaeval pottery were encountered. Strangely enough no seventeenth century pottery was encountered as it is known that the Friary buildings survived into the early seventeenth century. Also some domestic rubbish such as oyster shells and bones were found. In addition a coin was found at the depth of 70cm from the surface at the top of the third level. The coin was a rough issue silver penny John Balliol. It was found 7 metres 20cm from the top side of the trench and approximately in the centre of the trench.
The third level was an orange brown soil which was almost non existent at the northern end of the site but which at one point was up to 70cms in depth. At this point there was a small pit about 60cm across and in which there was a fourth level - a black deposit 10cm in depth. This pit was about 7 metres from the northern end of the trench. A consistent feature of this level was the presence of domestic refuse and 13th/14th century pottery. The black level contained pottery which would appear to be 12th/13th century in date.
The area to the south
of the brick wall proved to be the most interesting as it was here that
the remains of a Mediaeval wall were discovered in the east side of the
trench. The wall was made of local stone and had a scarcement about 15cms
wide and the height of the scarcement was about 25cms on average being
slightly higher when it crossed a shallow depression. The wall started
at a point 11.20cm from the northern edge of the trench and was approximately
75cms from the scarcement to the top of the wall. Obviously the wall was
much higher than this but at this stage, it is impossible to say just how
high. The wall appears to be 86cms broad and is earth bonded; the earth
bonded wall is held in place by a well constructed dry stone wall skin
on the inner and outer faces. In this respect the method of construction
is fairly typical of the period.
Altogether a four metre section of wall survived running north east at angle of 29 degrees off due North. It was however impossible to say whether the wall turned in towards the car park area to the rear of the Clydesdale or nor due to extensive robbing out of the stone at 15metres 50cm. The likelihood is that this would be the case but we were unable to ascertain this conclusively.
To the east of the wall face were the levels as described in the description of the trench running from the foundations of the seventeenth century house as far as the brick wall. It was noted however that the rubble layer was deeper, going down in places as deep as 90cms. In this level late Mediaeval pottery, nails, stone roofing tiles, several fragments of floor tiles and general domestic rubbish including oyster shells were found. In the rubble level at about 30cms down and at 13 metres 26cms a silver penny of James II of Scotland was found. It was struck at the Edinburgh mint c.1450-1460. Another interesting find in the rubble layer was a piece of stone with some green glaze on it. Possibly indicating the manufacture of the pottery in the area, certainly pottery was produced in the are in post mediaeval times according to historical records.
In the third layer
13th/14th century pottery was found, some of the pieces were imported wares
from England and France. Domestic rubbish was found indicating a fairly
broad based diet including beef, lamb and venison. Some of the bones showed
deliberate butchering marks. Other interesting finds from this area included
a section of lead water pipe, a lead weight and a well preserved girth
strap made from iron for a large horse such as a Clydesdale.
The building that lay at the far end of the trench and was known to have been built about 1820. It was not possible investigate this part of the site due to the discovery of the petrol and diesel storage tanks adjacent to it and excavation was considered to be too dangerous. Nothing of note was found in its vicinity.
The area investigated
was adjacent to a trench dug by a J.C.B for A.O.C who were employed by
the contractors Robert Hogg of Carluke. This investigation having finished
members of the Lanark and District Archaeological Society and the Lanark
Museum Trust worked on the site. Basically it consisted of three layers
- modern road make up, a rubble layer which was approximately a metre in
depth with an orange brown layer underneath that. The last layer before
natural was encountered was about 30 - 50cm in depth. This part of the
site ran north - south. On the western side of the area there is the wall
of an old property about 5 metres from the site of a roadway running down
to the former site of Cox's workshops. A face was opened up on the east
side of the surviving wall and five layers of occupation were encountered
- modern topsoil, a modern trench dug for a sewage pipe, a rubble layer,
an orange brown layer and a black layer.
The black layer ran across the bottom of the area - unfortunately this was destroyed before adequate investigation could take place. In this layer was found a variety of interesting finds - these included 12/13th century pottery, iron slag, several leather off cuts and a couple of pieces of thin gilded wire. The discovery of these objects would appear to give a strong indication of industrial activities in the immediate area.
There were other discoveries made on the northern face running east - west in the direction of the road way. These included a number of glazed pieces of 13/14th century pottery and most remarkably of all - a clasp which is thought to have come off a small prayer book.
The part of the site
running parallel to the A.O.C trench revealed a number of interesting finds
including five fragments of Mediaeval floor tiles. These are similar to
floor tiles found during the work undertaken for Daisies Coffee shop in
Lanark and it is thought that they are likely to have come from the same
building. These were all found in the rubble layer which also contained
late Mediaeval Pottery.
The orange layer underneath contained a number of fragments of green and brown glazed pottery. Stylistically they belong to the 13th/14th century. Animal bones were also found in this part of the site. A more work is yet to be done on the finds.
During work being undertaken to insert a new electrical supply into the garages still owned by Cox - the lid of a well was dislodged. The dimensions of the well are as follows - inside diameter 1.2 metres, outside diameter 1.65 metres. The depth of the well to the water is 4.6 metres and there is 1.6 metres of water in the bottom of it. The well itself is chiefly made of red sandstone with a few pieces of white sandstone, some of which are worked. Near the surface there are two cross pieces - these are made of pine, both are blackened. However there are other features - these include a lead pipe that enters in 0.7 metres from the surface. On the west side of the well there is a drain running in at 0.8 metres from the surface. Further down the well at approximately 3.00 metres the lead pipe goes through a wooden cross piece which probably helped the pipe to remain steady.
Under the north western corner of the garage building on the south side of the car park area at the back of the Clydesdale Hotel a Mediaeval carved stone was found. This stone was sealed by the garage building which was in part constructed in the late eighteenth century. It was found in a rubble level which was exposed as the area was gradually being cleared for access to the lower part of the site. The stone is a well carved piece of sandstone. It is straight and stands about 50cm high ; it formed the central part of a window. The evidence are two grooves for glass to be inserted, both grooves run more or less the full length of the stone.