With spectacular views over the Solway Firth and the distant Lakeland fells, Caerlaverock Castle is among the most impressive in Britain. There are in fact two castles here. The present castle replaced an earlier one, dating from the 13th century, which lies around 200 metres to its south-east, in an area of wooded marshland. In 1998, a team of archaeologists from
SUAT carried out an excavation of the old castle site, on behalf of Historic Scotland, and they have returned this summer to continue their investigation. The purpose of the dig is to provide information about the `old' castle and a possible harbour to its south-west, so that the site can be set out and interpreted for visitors.
Caerlaverock's First Castle
When Sir John Maxwell was granted the Caerlaverock estate in around 1220, he began to build a castle here. It seems that within fifty years this first castle had been abandoned, and the castle that you see today was built on an outcrop of rock. Before last year's dig, all that was visible of the old castle was a grassy earthen mound, surrounded by a moat. In 1998 the archaeologists uncovered a series of buildings on the castle mound, enclosed by a curtain wall with corner towers. A harbour to the south-west of the old castle, once linked to the Solway Firth, was also briefly investigated.
Archaeology is the study of people in the past through the material remains they leave behind. As well as uncovering the remains of the castle buildings, the archaeologists found fragments of pottery, metal, glass and stone objects, and animal bone representing the remains of meals eaten by the castle's inhabitants. Organic materials may have been particularly well preserved in the castle's moat, a small section of which will be excavated this summer.
All this will provide a snapshot of life at the castle in the 13th century and reveal information about how the castle was built, its economy and trading links, and the activities of the people living there. Once the work on the site is completed, a team of specialists will study various aspects of the material evidence of past activities (finds, animal bones and plant remains) found during the excavation. Standing wall footings and other structural features will be consolidated so that they can be displayed and interpreted to visitors.
You can follow the progress of the dig from Day One or keep up-to-date by visiting our Latest Results page.
There are displays about local archaeology at Dumfries Museum, The Observatory, Dumfries, and you can access the Museum's web site at www.dumfriesmuseum.demon.co.uk
SUAT
SUAT, with its predecessor the Urban Archaeology Unit, is one of the longest established archaeological units in Scotland. We have special interests in the development of medieval Scotland and employ a team of experienced archaeologists and post-excavation specialists. Edinburgh-based Headland Archaeology Ltd is carrying out environmental analyses for this project and AOC Scotland Ltd is providing finds conservation services.