Medieval Drain


		The wind and the rain didn’t put anybody off when it came to the annual Doors Open Day weekend of 10th and 11th September 2011. Buildings throughout Renfrewshire threw open their doors to allow the public a glimpse of some of the wonderful treasures Renfrewshire has to offer. Once again one of the highlights of the event was the archaeological dig centred around Paisley Abbey’s Medieval Drain taking place in the week leading up to Doors Open weekend, carried out by Guard Archaeology Ltd and the Renfrewshire Local History Forum. The main aim of the dig this year was to find out why the drain did not run in a straight line.



			Two trenches were dug, one directly over the medieval drain and the other was dug on the straight line between the start of the drain and it’s end.



		The photo above shows the actual route of the drain (red line) passing through Trench 1, whilst the yellow line shows the route if the drain ran in a straight line, which passes through Trench 2.

• Paisley Abbey

• Medieval Drain

• Robert Tannahill

• Sma’ Shot

• Mill Legacy

• Woodside First Aid Post

• Glen Cinema Disaster

• Paisley Canal Disaster

• Paisley Picture Houses

• The Paisley Witch Trial

• The Russell Institute

• The Paisley Snail

• St Mirren FC

• The Paisley Rocketeers

• Old Paisley :-

• This Old House

• Paisley Architects


	The two trenches certainly did not disappoint. The first trench uncovered what appeared to be a cobbled path or road directly over the drain running alongside the river, whilst the second trench uncovered something even more surprising.




		Trench 1 - uncovered stone cobbles, which can be seen in the photo above, just below the three buckets. these cobbles covered the whole area where the three archaeologists are standing/kneeling.


	Trench 2 uncovered a stone circle which was initially thought to be a well, but on further analysis may well have been a medieval oven which could have been in a building forming the Abbey kitchens. This would explain why the drain could not have gone in a straight line as it would have to have been built around this building.

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