Monument record MHG3678 - Medieval occupation - rear of (old) 17-19 Friars Street, Inverness

Two trial trenches were excavated by Inverness Museum and Art Gallery in advance of demolition and redevelopment of 17-33 Friars Street, Inverness in 1985, in the area of the Dominican friary. The northern trench, in the garden of N.25 only revealed many C19th shallow pits. The southern trench in the gardens behind Nos. 17-19 revealed a pit c. 1.2m by 1m and over 1m deep, which had been used as a dump for architectural stone fragments, the lower part of a medieval pot-quern decorated with a face mask, an incomplete C15 glazed jug and a Henry III coin. Several other small features were also excavated, containing a small number of medieval potsherds. <1> <2> <3>

The finds from the excavation were deposited in Inverness Museum. <4>

A watching brief was undertaken by Inverness Museum and Art Gallery staff during subsequent redevelopment of this site in 1986. A foundation trench by the southwest boundary of the site cut through a large feature filled with layers of clay, sands, charcoal, burnt clay and large stones. The feature was probably sub-rectangular, over 3m wide and 4m long. Excavation revealed a stone lined possible flue, 0.55m wide and 0.3m high without any obvious roofing remaining. This stone feature had been set into the base of a large concave sided pit, with in which the layers contained a few sherds of medieval pottery and burnt bone. <5>