This year’s major project, which serves to prove the unpredictability of the business, has to be the excavations at Ballumbie in Angus. A single desperate phone call from a developer has potentially become this year’s major piece of work! The results of that remarkable excavation are summarised below along with some updates on other continuing research and promotion.

During the groundworks for the preparation of a part of land adjacent to Ballumbie Castle golf course to the north-east of Dundee, the developers located human bone and as they had a planning condition attached phoned SUAT for advice.

Having sent out two people for a few days to assess the situation it was then decided at a site meeting that the whole site would have to be excavated prior to its redevelopment; preservation of the area was not an option that the developers were prepared to accept. SUAT then had a team of staff on site for eight weeks and proceeded to excavate and record the remains of a forgotten medieval church and graveyard with an associated Laird's Aisle. This medieval activity overlay a completely unknown Early Christian long-cist cemetery that was defined by a ditch. Negotiations are currently underway with the developers regarding the post-excavation costs for the excavation.

This site has proved to be one of the most important rural medieval church sites excavated in Scotland, largely due to the continuous use of the site for at least a thousand years. It has also served to highlight the problems of the long storage and curation of excavated human bone assemblages; the fate and final home of this material is still under discussion.

In addition to the excavations at Ballumbie, we have had a very good summer, with several interesting and varied projects taking place.

Loch Lomond Golf Club requested a full archaeological desk-based assessment, walkover survey and evaluation on the site of a proposed second golf course to the south of the current championship course. This work has kept us fairly busy throughout the first half of the year, and provided the opportunity to work with GPS (global positioning system) as a survey tool.

The site was of particular interest since it is directly north of the excavations recently carried out by GUARD at Midross, which lasted nearly a whole year, and uncovered a great deal of nationally significant archaeology from a very broad range of periods.

The evaluations took place in August, and lasted three weeks, uncovering a fair amount of evidence of post-medieval and prehistoric occupation, particularly in the area known as Ross Park: a 30-hectare area of open parkland, which is to contain the majority of the holes. Interestingly, a similar evaluation at Midross showed no significant archaeology to be present on the site. Whilst it is hoped that there will be opportunity to undertake further work, the design of the course is such that little ground reduction will be done, and an important resource may actually end up being preserved under a golf course.

We were contracted to carry out an unusual combined evaluation and survey on a proposed extension to Drymen Parish Church: the extension was to provide on-site church hall facilities for the parishioners, and would have both a ground floor and undercroft, taking advantage of the natural slope of the ground to E of the church.

The intention was for us to strip the topsoil to uncover and record all existing graves, in order to guide the foundation design for the new building, and in particular the design for the micro piling system that would be utilised for the lightweight timber and glass structure. The work was successful, in that graves were rediscovered including several that actually predated the construction of the church by a few years. It was also successful in helping to reduce the weight of all fieldworkers since so much earth was shifted by hand.

Chris Fyles spent some time in South Uist conducting a walkover survey and watching brief on a 20km stretch of electricity line which was in the process of being renewed by Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) around Drimore. Whilst not a great deal was found, we are in the process of setting up two further pieces of similar work relating to line refurbishment for SSE on South Uist for the winter.

Last year an evaluation was conducted at Railway Field, Inverkeilor which produced some evidence of prehistoric occupation on the southern boundaries of the site. Whilst not of huge surprise, since large scheduled cropmark sites exist to either side of the field in question, it did allow the opportunity for further work this autumn, to analyse what appeared to be a prehistoric structure and hearth. Little further was found, however the results of Carbon 14 dating and environmental sampling of the hearth and associated fills should give an interesting insight into an otherwise protected prehistoric landscape.

A proposed two-house development adjacent to Croft Moraig – one of the best-known stone circles in Perthshire – gave us the opportunity to evaluate the area for further archaeological potential. Sadly little was found, probably since the evaluated area was alongside a burn and subject to both hillwash and riverine erosion.

We are also looking forward to undertaking a watching brief before Christmas at Balgarthno Stone Circle, in Dundee, where Historic Scotland and Dundee City Council intend to erect fencing and signage at the monument.

Few standing building recording projects have been on offer this year, however we returned to Johnstone Castle, near Paisley, to finish off recording the interior of the Great Hall, as work had been completed on removal of concrete render.

A small piece of work was undertaken over the summer at the Malt Store of the old Thistle Brewery, Alloa, which is being redeveloped into a "super-pub". This entailed exterior recording of the malt store and offices, and essentially filled in the blanks in the previous recording schemes carried out by AOC and RCAHMS.

The first part of a two-stage project took place last winter at the old municipal swimming baths in Elgin, with the recording of the building prior to demolition. The baths date to the 1930’s and 1960’s respectively, with the later addition being a supremely ugly yet characteristic piece of modernist architecture. The project is on hold for now, but will culminate in a watching brief on the installation of services on the site.

Nearer to home, another steading conversion, this time at Glencarse, allowed the opportunity to record some Perthshire farm buildings in advance of redevelopment.