East Kirk of St Nicholas Week 2
6 February to 10 February
Judith Stones, Keeper of Archaeology, writes…
Once again, there's been a lot going on at the excavation site this week. In terms of 'logistics', the contractors have installed our electrically powered conveyor belt which will take the lighter spoil from the dig on a longish voyage up through the apse of the East Kirk and out of the east window to a skip parked near the door to the Third World Shop.
In all my years as an archaeologist this is only the second occasion in which I've seen such a 'technological' approach to soil disposal! It certainly beats hauling buckets and wheelbarrows up on to spoil heaps.
Last week, I mentioned the 17th-century gravestone which we'd found. I think I suggested that it had the initials 'M D' on it, but that doesn't seem quite right now.
There's a photo here this week, so please have a look and see what you think. We've just found the edge of another, probably similar one nearby.
But things are moving on fast. The team are still removing the foundations of the little 19th-century walls which supported the floor and the pews within the East Kirk. These walls were built to some depth - and to last - but I suppose that the weight of a full congregation within the Kirk might have been substantial!
In and among the foundations are human bones from earlier graves which the walls had disturbed: the builders had put the bones back unceremoniously among the stones and mortar.
The first wooden coffins have begun to appear in outline, only about one metre below the East Kirk floor. They appear to be quite decayed and may date from the 17th or the 18th-century.
The archaeologists will carefully record and remove the bones for examination and eventual re-burial.
Meanwhile, in one area of the site, part of a wall foundation has been found, which may relate to the medieval east end of St Nicholas Church. That could be very exciting, but we're keeping cool at the moment, as it's early days yet!
The fact that it's bonded with pink clay rather than mortar may suggest a pre-15th century date. And, as I write this, I've just been walking on what may be the mortar floor of the 17th-century Kirk, discovered only a few hours ago.
Finally, I promised to introduce you to members of the digging team and Maria LeRoi has kindly agreed to be first. Maria, who comes from Lincolnshire, has a combined honours degree in Archaeology and Egyptology from the University of Liverpool and is about to complete her MSc in Forensic Archaeology at Bournemouth University.
She's dug in various parts of the UK and most recently in Slovakia. Maria applied to join this dig to further her experience of excavating human remains on a complex urban site. And we are very happy to have her special expertise too!
Public tours of the Church and the site start next week, so we hope to see you there. Details are on this website.
