Medieval village uncovered at Philiphaugh battlefield
Philiphaigh medieval village found. Andrew Reid, one of the workmen from Glendinning Groundworks who came across what is thought to be the remains of a medieval village at Philiphaugh when the company was digging trenches to lay pipes.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have discovered a medieval village on the outskirts of Selkirk, writes Sally Gillespie.
Contractors for Scottish Water uncovered the find next to the football pitch and Philiphaugh battleground late last year as they worked on a new water mains from Selkirk to Yarrowford.
Scottish Borders Council archeological officer Chris Bowles said: “It’s exciting. You don’t find medieval villages every day.”
He said: “We’ve got crop works on the field that suggest what we thought was going to be an Anglo-Saxon village and crop markings suggesting a graveyard and church and, of course, the battlefield. We had a feeling we would find battlefield artefacts but we never in a million years thought we would find a medieval village!”
Works site manager James Davies said he had been warned the area was of historical importance and an archeologist has been standing by, working with an excavator.
He described how the workman took off a six metre strip of topsoil on the footpath next to the battlefield site to reveal cobbling “and what looked like a couple of walls”.
Archeologists from Edinburgh went over the area in more detail, widening their search to about 400 metres, in December and January. Dr Bowles said: “The current thinking is that what was found were five buildings relating to the medieval village of Philiphaugh which was abandoned and demolished by the time of the Battle of Philiphaugh in 1645.”
The materials the walls are made of, including the clay bonding, is consistent with medieval buildings he said, along with the cobbled and flagged floors. And 14th-15th century pottery has also been found, along with a corroded coin.
“The work hasn’t been completed yet in terms of lab work and we won’t have the whole story until sometime later this year,” said Dr Bowles.
He added: “There were several artefacts, including a lovely spindle whorl which was personalised by its owner, and a possible barrel for a 17th-century swivel gun was found relating to the Battle of Philiphaugh.”
Mr Davies said: “It’s the first time I have been involved in anything like this. It’s just really interesting to think that hundreds of years ago there were obviously people here, and finding that.”
The works team will also put in a new footpath from Selkirk to the café and salmon viewing centre and erect signs about the battle and recent finds for the Philiphaugh Trust.
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Saturday 25 May 2013
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