Excavation of a Medieval moated site in Elderslie, Renfrewshire

Abstract

Prior to re-landscaping, an archaeological evaluation was undertaken in August 1998 of the area around the Wallace Memorial in Elderslie, Renfrewshire, which marks the reputed birthplace of Sir William Wallace. In addition to a 16th century structure, known as "Wallace's House", early map evidence suggested that there was a large rectilinear moated enclosure around the site with three rounded corner towers, only one of which now survives at the eastern corner in the garden of Moat House. Excavation across this moat revealed it to be a wide flat-bottomed ditch, with its inner edge faced by a battered and mortared rubble wall. Artefactual evidence and a radiocarbon date suggests that this enclosure was of medieval date. Unfortunately the majority of material recovered from the interior relates to the post-medieval re-use of the site.