Continued exploration of Govan Old Church reveals early medieval building

This article is from Current Archaeology issue 417

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Govan Old Church in Glasgow is one of the city’s most important historical landmarks, with the site’s religious story stretching back at least 1,500 years, and the church itself renowned for housing one of the most significant collections of Viking Age carved stones in the British Isles (see CA 189 and CA 398). Over the last three decades, fieldwork led by Stephen Driscoll, Professor of Historical Archaeology at the University of Glasgow, has shed important light on how the site developed over the centuries – and this year further investigations have uncovered early medieval remains while exploring the churchyard’s original entrance.

The excavation – undertaken by Glasgow University and Clyde Archaeology as part of ‘Dig Where You Stand’, a new programme within the Govan Old archaeological project – focused on the south-east portion of the teardrop-shaped churchyard, revealing surviving medieval archaeology entangled with large dumps of late 19th- and early 20th-century rubbish.

These deposits were in themselves interesting, offering insights into social and domestic life during Govan’s shipbuilding heyday – but what lay beneath was even more significant: a substantial, square stone building measuring 4.6 square metres. Its precise date and function remain unknown, but it is thought that the structure may have originated as a medieval gatehouse or chapel, before potentially serving as a court Session House, and ultimately as the monument house that housed several of the Govan Stones before the current church was built in 1888. It is hoped that future phases of the project will shed more light on its purpose.

The team also uncovered an extensive area of iron-working, whose date they hope to establish in the coming dig season. ‘Here we are arguably looking at the origins of a millennium- long tradition which culminated in the great shipbuilding era,’ Stephen said. ‘Now that we have a better understanding of the deposits, the potential significance of these early levels is magnified.’

In addition to excavation, the ongoing probe survey of the churchyard has now explored around 35% of its area, within which the team have revealed and recorded numerous buried stones and their inscriptions. Some date to the 17th to 19th centuries, while others are more characteristic of the medieval Govan Stones.

Excavations are intended to continue over the coming years, with the aim of fully exploring the early medieval deposits and structures associated with the original entrance, and completing a full map of the churchyard.

Text: Rebecca Preedy / Photo: University of Glasgow