For years, tourists have walked past it, gardeners have pushed their wheelbarrows across it, and neither have realised in whose footsteps they are treading.
But thanks to the efforts of archaeologists working in the grounds of Scone Palace, it’s now possible to point to the spot where Robert the Bruce was crowned king of Scotland.
Geophysics surveys, now backed up by archaeology, have revealed the exact floor plan of Scone Abbey, allowing archaeologists confidently to estimate the position of the high altar, where the coronation of Scottish kings would have taken place.
Any king being crowned there now would have to set the Stone of Destiny in the middle of a public footpath and rest his back against a high algae-covered wall, though fittingly, the high canopy of pine branches still provides a hallowed feel like the vault of the ancient abbey church.
Archaeologists working on the Scone Abbey Excavations are delighted that they are now able to answer the question of where Scottish kings were crowned.
But their excavation work, now in its second year, has revealed much else about the abbey, founded in 1114, and Moot Hill, the centuries-old site of royal inaugurations.
Mystery had surrounded the location of the abbey because nothing of it remains above ground. Peter Yeoman, a mediaeval archaeologist working on the site, said the lack of ruins was unprecedented: “Almost all other mediaeval monasteries have upstanding remains: this is the only one that doesn’t.”
This year’s dig, now in its second and final week, is focused on five trenches dug in the pristine lawns that span the palace approach and is seeking to producephysical evidence to confirm what the geophysics indicates. So far, Yeoman said, “the geophysics has proved to be completely accurate”.
Finds include a beautifully preserved copper alloy parchment pricker, a delicate pin used by monks to rough out designs they intended to illuminate with inks; a decorative section from a belt; two 15th century coins; and an ornate segment of carved stonework in sandstone, from a window, door or tomb canopy.
The team have also found a yellowed skeleton, which was buried under the floor of the abbey church, possibly the remains of a modestly well-to-do person from the nearby town. Yeoman said: “To be buried under the floor of the abbey church, you would need a certain amount of money. But it’s not at the fashionable end.”
Those with the means would seek burial near the high altar. Massive slabs of tightly packed masonry, sealed with white mortar, have been uncovered -- the church foundations, which were built on sand.
From all this, the archaeologists have been able to get an idea of its monumental size. The church alone was 70m long and would have been visible for many miles around.
Dr Oliver O’Grady, the project’s director, said: “Arbroath Abbey is the most similar in scale. It would have had a 30m tower. It would have been even higher than the palace.”
The team have also found a massive ditch around the Moot Hill, a low hill, now covered with trees, to one side of the abbey.
Yeoman described the Moot Hill as the “pre-eminent assembly mound where parliament sat and important proclamations were made, and kings were made”.
He added: “To understand more about it is very very important.” Dr O’Grady said: “Our earliest reference to Moot Hill is 906 AD, to a royal assembly on the Hill of Belief. It says it’s beside the royal monastery of Scone, so there was a church there even then.”
The Countess of Mansfield, whose family owns the palace, said: “We are very excited by the whole thing. We knew Macbeth was here, Robert the Bruce, all the kings of Scotland and Pictish kings, but what was the proof for it?
“They have unveiled a bit of Scotland’s history and Scone was at the centre of the action for 1500 years. The archaeologists are doing something hugely exciting, because they are beginning to prove our history.”
The ditch would have separated off this place of royal ceremony. The team have put in a trench to look for evidence that can be scientifically dated.
“We always thought the ancient abbey was in the wild garden about 300m away. So I was very interested to find I’d spent 30 years or more walking all over it.
Uncovering the whole church foundations all at once, is not on the cards at present, but future, more ambitious digs on the site are likely. “We’re in discussions for a long-term large scale excavation which would be one of the major excavations in Scotland,” said Dr O’Grady.
Lady Mansfield added: “I’d be enchanted if they dug up the whole lot, just so long as they protect the great trees and their roots.”
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