O'Sullivan, J., ed. (2001). Dundrennan Abbey: archaeological investigation within the south range of a Cistercian house in Kirkcudbrightshire (Dumfries & Galloway), Scotland. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland. https://doi.org/10.5284/1017938.

The remains of the south-west corner of the 12th-century Cistercian abbey cloister at Dundrennan (National Grid Reference: NX 7492 4750) were cleared of rubble and 19th-century landscaping infill over four seasons of fieldwork in the early 1990s. Elements of the warming house, novice's day room, great drain and latrine block undercroft were revealed. Coupled with a short programme of geophysical survey and test-trenching, new evidence of the sequence of building for the abbey was revealed by excavation. The project was funded by Historic Scotland.

The abbey was founded in 1142 by Fergus, Lord of Galloway as a daughter house of Rievaulx in north Yorkshire. The success of the abbey as the earliest and wealthiest Cistercian foundation in the region was not maintained into the later 13th century. An indication of the mixed fortunes of the abbey during the 13th century survives in the form of petitions to the English Crown. The history of subsequent years is largely obscure. By the mid 16th century the community of brethren was relatively small, numbering a single prior and nine monks in 1545.

With the exception of trenches 1 and 2, all excavated areas produced evidence of in situ archaeological deposits over a wide area. It appears from trenches 4-6 that the whole of the east-facing slope is artificially modified for arable purposes, but that most of this landscaping occurred after the abbey was abandoned. In general, the potential medieval features found in trenches 5 and 6 reflected attempts to create dry and stable building platforms, most likely for timber buildings, and probably associated with the earliest monastic colonisation of the site.

A total of 48 small finds mostly derived from the fill of the great drain and the accompanying midden deposits. They included a silver spoon, silver and copper alloy pins, a coin, lace tags, needles, an iron spearhead and belt loop. There were also five fragments from a leather shoe and a number of rim sherds from glass vessels.

A total of 412 separate fragments derived exclusively from the area under excavation; that is they represent remains of buildings which have collapsed in situ and which have since undergone robbing and further reduction. Masons' marks were found on 226 fragments (mostly on fragments of ceiling vault ribbing) and 44 different types were identified.

The composition of the charred plant assemblage through all phases of deposition reflects a striking consistency. Oats predominate throughout with lesser quantities of barley, wheat and weed seeds. This probably reflects the use of these cereals throughout the occupation of the site, with oats being the most popular in all periods. Indeed this shows very much the trend for the high medieval period in Scotland. Investigations at Perth, for instance, found that oats and barley were the most frequently recovered cereals there too. Unfortunately it has not been possible to determine whether the crops at Dundrennan were locally grown. Certainly, the weed assemblage, indicating sandy acid soils, could have come from local fields.

Freshwater fish included salmon, perch, eel, roach and lamprey, while marine varieties comprised herring, haddock, pollock, saithe, cod and dab. Three fragments of possible edible crab were also recovered.

Insect remains include woodlouse and centipede. The material has little interpretative value: some of it is definitely modern and it could all conceivably be intrusive.

The results of the excavation have been expressed as a simple sequence of building, repair and decline, but clearly also demonstrate the evolution of the house within key historic periods. In discussing the significance of the findings, evidence of this evolution is reviewed in terms of specific episodes of construction work on the site. There are three historical periods against which the episodic development of the buildings within the abbey complex can be best reviewed, in as much as prevailing conditions enable the abbey to be successful, and which also more acutely prescribed and determined the scale and nature of the changes to the buildings. The historical periods are as follows: consolidation and early success in the 12th to the later 13th century; remodelling in the 14th century, and commendatorship in the 15th century.

The remains of the south-west corner of the 12th-century Cistercian abbey cloister at Dundrennan (National Grid Reference: NX 7492 4750) were cleared of rubble and 19th-century landscaping infill over four seasons of fieldwork in the early 1990s. Elements of the warming house, novice's day room, great drain and latrine block undercroft were revealed. Coupled with a short programme of geophysical survey and test-trenching, new evidence of the sequence of building for the abbey was revealed by excavation. The project was funded by Historic Scotland.\r\n