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The first year of the University of St Andrews Monastic Archaeology Field School has unearthed evidence of medieval buildings and pottery at Lindores Abbey, close to Newburgh in Fife.
A 12th-century foundation of the Tironensian Order, Lindores Abbey is potentially the site of the first recorded production of whisky in Scotland, as an exchequer roll of 1494 documents a payment from James IV to the abbey for ‘Aqua Vitae’. Previous work on the site has included evaluation works by Rebecca Shaw in 2016, and the discovery of a medieval still in 2018. Now the University of St Andrews has begun a project to uncover more of the abbey’s archaeology.
During this initial year of the new field school, archaeologists and 15 St Andrews Summer Study students opened four trenches to target specific questions regarding the layout of the abbey and its precincts. These revealed traces of demolished buildings and at least one wooden structure to the east of the Abbey church and cloister. The excavations confirmed that a standing wall-line previously identified as being part of the southern abbey precinct-line is in fact of a later date, representing part of a post-monastic orchard boundary.
Together with evidence for the abbey’s original layout, the team uncovered a wealth of ceramic material on site. Among these finds are sherds of medieval Scottish Redwares and White Gritty Wares dating from the 12th to 15th centuries, as well as pieces of imported 14th- to 15th-century German (Rhenish) stoneware, and either French or Low Countries Highly Decorated wares of 13th- to 14th-century date. A single fragment from a ceramic bird whistle made a particularly lovely discovery, with a probable post-monastic provenance from France or south England. Most of the pottery was found in deeply stratified deposits in the southern part of the complex, along with animal bone of a similar nature to finds from Shaw’s 2016 evaluation.
This first season has proved to be a valuable introduction to the archaeology of the site for the project team, and has provided the ideal training ground for the team of Summer Study students. Over the coming years, the initiative will continue with fresh aims of exploring the use and management of water in the abbey grounds and its surroundings, which lie largely within an area scheduled by Historic Environment Scotland.
The project team would like to acknowledge the support and interest of Drew and Helen Mackenzie Smith and their team at Lindores Abbey Distillery.
Text: courtesy of Derek Hall, Professor Alison Beach (University of St Andrews), Professor Darlene L Brooks Hedstrom (Brandeis University), Calum Muir and Dr Kimm Curran (University of St Andrews) / Image: University of St Andrews Monastic Archaeology Field School
