Wester Kelso/Floors Castle, 1983-85

Abstract

The excavations suggest that the medieval burgh of Wester Kelso was indeed in the grounds of Floors Castle, but nearer the Tweed (Trench 3), not inside the gates at the north-west end of Roxburgh Street (Trenches 1 and 2). Trench 1 produced no evidence of medieval occupation, or any post-medieval occupation either, apart from a ditch, possibly a boundary ditch pre-dating the formation of the park in the late 18th century. Trench 2 produced evidence of occupation beside a cobbled road. This occupation relates to the post-medieval expansion northwards along Roxburgh Street, from the abbey and market area at the southern end of the settlement of (Easter) Kelso; it is not the remains of the medieval burgh of Wester Kelso.