The Shootinglee Project

Update April 2019

Our main current fieldwork project is at Shootinglee, near Traquair, where we have successfully been investigating the suspected site of a forest stead and hunting lodge within the historic Ettrick Forest. A final report will be produced on completion of the fieldwork in 2019; meanwhile short interim reports have been submitted each year to Discovery & Excavation Scotland the annual round-up of archaeological fieldwork published by Archaeology Scotland. These have been reproduced here with slight modifications, together with a selection of plans and photographs in order to convey the scope of the project and the results to date.
The project has mainly been undertaken using the Society’s own funds; however selective tree felling has been made possible by generous grant-aid from Forestry Commission Scotland and the cost of radiocarbon dating has been met with assistance from Scottish Borders Council and the Mackichan Trust. Help in kind was provided  by the Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society whose members kindly undertook a resistivity survey.
The Society would like to thank Scottish Woodlands for access to the site on behalf of the owner and particularly the forest manager Charlotte Cavey-Wilcox. The excavation has been undertaken by a select team of volunteers from both the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway, working under the archaeological supervision of Dr Piers Dixon CIfA, formerly of Historic Environment Scotland and Joyce Durham, Site Director.
Current and past volunteers on the project team have included Jack Boughey, Gillian Brown, Jeff Carter, Sue and Kevin Cotterill, Neil Crawford, Brenda Dreghorn, David Drury, the late Maureen Erasmuson, James Garry, Bill Glass, Peter Jack, Andy Jepson, Bob Knox, Meryl Marshall, Geoff Parkhouse, David Paterson, Stephen Scott and Brian Tait.