Site Event/Activity record EWE85 - Point St Fountain, Stornoway

NB43SW 53 4219 3278 NB 4219 3278. Human remains were discovered by the Western Isles council archaeologist while undertaking a watching brief on the digging of a foundation trench for a fountain in Point Street, Stornoway. As this site may have lain within the boundaries of a graveyard postulated to have been associated with the early 17th- century church of St Lennan (NB43SW 8), an archaeological excavation was undertaken on remaining sub-surface sediments which might have been disturbed by construction work. A ruinous stone wall, aligned roughly N-S and probably a field boundary, was found located within a layer of peat. A hearth setting, seen in section, underlay the peat layer. Both the hearth and wall remain in situ as these locations will be unaffected by construction work. A sherd of prehistoric pottery together with relatively modern ceramic and wooden artefacts were recovered from the upper part of the peat layer. No further human skeletal material was found. Sponsor: Historic Scotland. J Gooder 1999. Same account in J Gooder, DES, 1999, 93-4 REPORT DATE: 22/01/2001