Survey of Kirkurd Churchyard
In the spring of 2023 the members of the Biggar Archaeology Group with the support of Peeblesshire Archaeological Society and Scottish Borders Council surveyed Kirkurd Churchyard.
This survey data pdf (Kirkurd Churchyard report) has been combined with information from the...
Survey of Kirkurd Old Burial Ground
Biggar Archaeology completed a survey of gravestone location at Kirkurd Old graveyard in the grounds of Castle Craigs Hospital in Peeblesshire. The site has been occupied by successive churches from as early as the 12th century, when the church...
Survey and excavation reports – Millhill of Wandel
From 2019 until 2022 excavations were undertaken at Millhill of Wandel. This came about as a follow-up to observations taken from Wandel Mill and a subsequent survey. No records had been published of this site other than some aerial...
Camps Reservoir excavation and survey report from 1992
A survey and partial excavation of a series of Bronze Age and later structures exposed by the lowering of the water level in Camps Reservoir was carried out in 1992 and 1994. In the first campaign of work an enclosed cremation...
Reservoirs 2021 – exceptionally low water levels
Revisiting some of our past excavations sites recently found the reservoirs are particularly low this year.
Some background information
The four reservoirs are Talla, Fruid and Megget, all in Borders Region and Daer in South Lanarkshire. Various campaigns of work have...
A monumental stone commemorating the life of George Ramsay of Foulden Bastle
Here is a short pdf on the monumental stone commemorating the life of George Ramsay of Foulden Bastle.
The existence of bastle houses on the Anglo Scottish borders have long been known and recorded in England by the Royal Commission...
Archaeological endeavour – a brief autobiography, by Tam Ward
This pdf – Archaeological endeavour – a brief autobiography is a true account of how I became involved in archaeology and the principal events which occurred during that time and until the date of writing.
I am often asked how I...
How did Late Upper Palaeolithic reindeer hunters live?
The full essay in pdf attempts to understand aspects of the lifestyles of the Late Upper Palaeolithic (LUP) people who arrived for seasonal camps at Howburn Farm near Biggar, and who are assumed to have been following and living...
The Howburn Farm Lithic Tools
A new pdf report with a partial photographic presentation of the Howburn Farm Late Upper Palaeolithic and later prehistoric tool and lithic assemblage is now available to download.
Howburn Farm is currently a unique name in Scottish archaeology as having...
Lime clamp kiln at Glencotho excavation in 2015
An Excavation report on the lime clamp kilns at Glencotho, Peeblesshire, Scottish Borders in 2015. Download the full report from here.
The excavated kiln is part of a group and was given in The Upper Tweed Archaeological Survey (Ward, 2004)...
The Treasures of South Lanarkshire
What is Treasure?
The Treasures of South Lanarkshire is an attempt by the author to highlight the almost unbelievable wealth of curated and built heritage of the area, and much of which is probably unknown to the general public, but all...
David Fisher – Artist (1946-2013), his Clydesdale legacy
By Tam Ward
David Fisher was born in Midsomer Norton in Somerset, he originally trained as a signwriter and decorator and gradually became a self employed artist. He was commissioned to paint pub signs all over England and produced a...
Elsrickle War Memorials – an update
Back in June 2018 we uploaded a report and news item about why there were two war memorials in the village of Elsrickle. The two war memorials at Elsrickle, South Lanarkshire
In that article and the report we asked if anyone knew...
Biggar Kirk a tour of principle features and brief history
Biggar Kirk, formerly known as St Mary’s Church is unique, being the last Pre-Reformation church to be built in Scotland. A fascinating history of the church dating back to the 12th century is available and some aspects of the building...
Digitised M74 Report from 1992
The out of print report by Tam Ward on the survey work by the Biggar Archaeology Group as part of the M74 upgrade in Clydesdale, now South Lanarkshire, in 1990, it has now been digitised.
Upper Clydesdale through the Ages...
History and Archaeology – Myth or Fact
A talk given by Tam Ward at Quothquan near Thankerton, some years ago.
History can be mystery and archaeology can be downright frustrating, often, literally, archaeology is rubbish! It’s all about trying to understand and learn about the past, neither...
Survey of St Mary’s Churchyard, Biggar
This Biggar Archaeology Group report on Survey of St Mary's Churchyard is an update to previous inventories of the pre-1855 gravestone inscriptions in St Mary's Churchyard, Biggar, produced by John Smith in 1916 and Sheila Scott in 1972. This version...
Early 18th century pottery from pre Lowland Clearance sites in Scotland
Several excavated sites in southern Scotland have produced assemblages of early 18th century red earthenware and other types of Staffordshire type slip ware pottery. The sites are known to have been abandoned before 1760 and furthermore much of the pottery is...
The Howburn Book
At last, and it has been worth the wait – we have the Howburn Book, a report principally by Torben Bjarke Ballin, a leading lithics expert and no stranger to Biggar Archaeology Group because he also did a report...
The two war memorials at Elsrickle, South Lanarkshire
The wee village of Elsrickle, in South Lanarkshire was recently made famous as being the village near the oldest known place of human activity in Scotland; Howburn Farm where people arrived from Denmark, by following reindeer over what is...
Latest News
Survey of Kirkurd Churchyard
In the spring of 2023 the members of the Biggar Archaeology Group with the support of Peeblesshire Archaeological Society and Scottish Borders Council surveyed...
