Local Archaeology


Previous Archaeology Activities

As well as the annual Winter series of talks the Archaeology Section has been busy with other projects:

Excavation at Greenbank House

On Sunday, 27th of July, 2014, the Forum had a stall at Archaeology Day at Greenbank House and Gardens. The event was run by the National Trust for Scotland. Derek Alexander of NTS organised the dig. Four of our members and interested teenager, Conor Brett, were volunteers in a small excavation of three trenches in different parts of the gardens. Trench 1 was the site of a saw mill and Trench 3 was an attempt to find building foundations.

Maggie examining a five inch layer of greyish ash at sawmill site Trench 1

Maggie examining a five inch layer of greyish ash at sawmill site Trench 1

Maggie, Conor and Bill in Trench 2

Maggie, Conor and Bill in Trench 2


Janet and Maimie manning the stand

Janet and Maimie manning the stand


Ian with other volunteers Trench 3

Ian with other volunteers Trench 3


Castle Semple, Lochwinnoch

Working in partnership with Renfrewshire Council and Muirshields Country Park, the Forum organised the Doors Open Day events at Castle Semple Estate in 2009.  Oliver O’Grady of Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust completed magnetometry and resistivity surveys at the Collegiate Church. The survey is part of a wider project by the Forum covering Castle Semple Estate. The Forum intends to organise further investigations at the Collegiate Church. The Forum also undertook a small excavation at a midden site in Parkhill Woods where some interesting artefacts were recovered.

Geo-physical Survey

Geo-physical Survey


Midden Trench

Midden Trench


Collegiate Church

Collegiate Church


Kilbarchan West Parish Church

For Doors Open Day / Scottish Archaeology Month, in September 2007, we excavated trial trenches in the grounds of Kilbarchan West Parish Church adjacent to the Weaver’s Cottage (NTS). The dig aimed to find further evidence of weavers’ cottages in Kilbarchan.

Story Telling on Doors Open Day

Story Telling on Doors Open Day


Book Stall on Doors Open Day

Book Stall on Doors Open Day


Johnstone Castle

Over the 9th & 10th September 2006, we carried out a small excavation at Johnstone Castle as part of Scottish Archaeology Month and Renfrewshire Doors Open Day.

Johnstone Castle

Johnstone Castle


Dunsmore Farmstead

Over the first two weekends in August 2006 we carried out a field survey and small excavation at Dunsmore Farmstead, Hall of Caldwell.


Weavers’ Cottage, Kilbarchan.

We assisted the National Trust for Scotland’s, West Region Archaeologist explore the remains of a building in the garden of the Weavers’ Cottage. This produced some amazing finds! Not only did we find a Neolithic Hammer Axe and 1000′s of shards of pottery we discovered a Human Skull in a pit which also contained a lot of the pottery.


Craigends House Estate, Houston

In a similar vein to the Weavers’ Cottage, Kilbarchan we put a small trench (3.0m x 0.5m) in where a spread of pottery had been identified. From this trench we recovered large amounts of pottery shards and glass and we are currently studying the artefacts with a view to publication.


Barrhouse Farmstead, Neilston

The Forum carried out a full excavation of this old farmstead over a number of years. Work on the post-excavation phase, analysing the finds and writing up the final report has now been completed and will be published this year.

Barrhouse Farmstead

Barrhouse Farmstead