Series: John Pickin unpublished report series

A pre-determination evaluation was undertaken to locate a burial ground associated with members of the Bucchanite sect who lived and were buried at Newhouse between 1808 and 1846.Three trenches were excavated and one, close to the north-west side of the house, exposed a shallow grave which had been truncated to the south by a service trench. The grave lay within the area of a small square enclosure shown on the Second Edition OS map. It is likely that much of the graveyard was destroyed by the construction of a 20th-century extension at the rear of Newhouse.

A watching brief was undertaken during the removal of two 1930s lattice electricity pylon towers located within the bailey enclosure north-west of Buittle castle mound. The work exposed deposits interpreted as disturbed during the construction of the towers and no archaeological deposits were observed.

A watching brief was undertaken for CIET (UK) Ltd in advance of replacement work on two electricity poles. The watching brief was required because of the proximity of the work to The Doon hillfort (Twynholm, Dumfries and Galloway)and to the possible site of the medieval priory of St Evoca. Trench 1 (NX 65898 48831)was archaeologically sterile. In Trench 2 (NX 65853 48851) a linear ditch, partly stone-filled, had been cut into the natural boulder clay. Only a small section of this feature could be examined in the trench and no dating evidence was recovered.

A watching brief was undertaken during the construction of access tracks associated with the clear felling of a mature conifer plantation on the castle site. A short length of stone enclosure wall was found on the northern edge of the bailey. A 6 m section of stone wall was also exposed on the north-east corner of the motte and a large architectural stone fragment, possibly a window or door surround, was recovered from top soil deposits in the same area. The fragment is probably sixteenth century in date and it is likely that it and the two enclosure walls relate to a late medieval building which is known to have been constructed on the site of the earlier timber castle. No internal features were observed in either the mote or bailey.

Basic level building recording was carried out in advance of the conversion of three buildings at this Second World War munitions factory. Two of the buildings were multi-purpose stores and workshops erected adjacent to the factory's own railway line. Both buildings were steel-framed constructions with brick walls and flat concrete roofs. The third building was a brick structure with two entrances protected by flanking blast walls; this was probably the site's electricity sub-station.

Basic level building recording of the Stable Block took place in advance of a proposal to convert the north wing to a residential unit. The Stable Block was built as a courtyard steading in the late 18th century or early 19th century and was substantially rebuilt the 1870s when the adjacent Friars Carse House was remodelled. The only elements surviving from the original building are the west wing and the lower sections of the north and west walls of the north wing. The west gable of the west wing also incorporates part of an earlier but undated wall indicating that there was a structure on site before the steading was built. The east and south wings of the Stable Block probably date from the remodelling in the 1870s as do the doocot and the pend in the west wing and it seems that that the north wing was substantially rebuilt at the same time. Two wooden stalls survive in one of the rooms in the east wing and the outlines of four box stalls remain in the north wing.

Basic level building recording was carried out in advance of the conversion of the church to a dwelling house. Three building phases were identified. The first phase relates to the construction of the T-plan church and tower in 1779 and the second phase to the remodelling of the church in 1864 which included the construction of porches, a northern extension and internal alterations. The third phase is associated with minor alterations, including the insertion of a door in the lower stage of the tower, undertaken during the twentieth century.