EHG510 - Watching brief - drainage works, Fearn Abbey

An archaeological watching brief was conducted by Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) in 2001 at Fearn Abbey to monitor any potential impact arising from the installation of services around the church and in the cemetery and to record any archaeological features or material encountered. The work was carried out in two phases in tandem with maintenance work occasioned by a successful Heritage Lottery Fund application by the Church of Scotland (Fearn Abbey and Nigg Chapelhill Parish) Congregational Board. The first phase involved the watching brief associated with the service trenches opened within the graveyard between 9 and 14 April 2001 (Trenches 1 and 2). The second phase was carried out between 4 and 13 June 2001 (Trench 3) and was concerned with the trenches excavated around the perimeter of the kirk for the placement of the drainage pipes, laid to carry off surface water from the roof of the structure. Some evidence for structural and other activity, potentially as early as the Medieval period, was encountered, although the narrow trenches within which the work took place preclude absolute statements regarding date and function. No in situ burials were disturbed during the fieldwork, although as anticipated a quantity of disarticulated human bone was encountered, some of which was lifted and retained. It was considered that the planning authority should decide whether the work merited producing a short report for publication and whether any analysis of the recovered human remains should be undertaken prior to their re-interment. <1>