Archaeological remains of Glasgow’s earliest suburbs have been discovered by GUARD Archaeology. Several lines of well-preserved wooden posts with woven fencing, as well as pottery at a site in the Gallowgate area.

The discovery was made 4.5 metres below the current street level at the Spoutmouth area, which is being developed into social housing.

This is a remarkable survival of organic archaeology in an area of the city that has witnessed substantial development over the many years since Glasgow was first established. A small sliver of medieval Glasgow that has somehow survived centuries of building and rebuilding.

The site lay dormant as a car park until Wheatley Group developed plans to build 34 homes for social rent and two commercial units. The £9.295 million development is supported by a Scottish Government Grant of £5.57 million. As part of the planning conditions, a comprehensive archaeological investigation was required due to the site’s location on the edge of medieval Glasgow.

Aside from the foundations of 18^th and 19^th century buildings, nothing of great significance was apparent during the initial investigations, until the tops of wooden posts were spotted piercing through clays 4.5m down. 

The Spoutmouth site lies on the south side of the former line of the Molendinar Burn which was once one of the most well-known water courses in Glasgow that drains into the River Clyde; it now flows underground having been culverted in the 1800s.

But going back in time, it has associations with St Mungo who founded his church on its banks in the late 6^th century AD. By the 12^th century the newly established bishopric and its cathedral were built not far from here at the top of the High Street. In AD 1175, King William the Lion conveyed Glasgow with burgh status. Burghs had been introduced by William’s grandfather David I and allowed Glasgow economic and legal privileges in return for significant tax contributions to the Royal Exchequers of Scotland.

The GUARD Archaeology team unearthed 63 upright posts arranged in three lines defining three broad linear areas. As these are so deep, the site is constant flooding from water but this is also why these wooden remains have survived for so long. Caught up in the wattle fencing, are numerous sherds of medieval pottery, animal bone and other organic material.

The bulk of the pottery is a mix of medieval fragments which date to around the 13^th-14^th centuries AD. The wattle fencing therefore appears to part of a very early eastward expansion of the medieval burgh.

This rare discovery of preserved wooden structures opens a window into Glasgow’s past when it underwent its first wave of major expansion. It is remarkable that in the same year that Glasgow will celebrate its 850^th anniversary of receiving burgh status, some archaeological evidence of those beginnings have been discovered.

Further analysis of the wood and other material will be carried out in due course, following the excavation works.

Construction works will commence after the completion of the archaeological excavation. The archaeological team is expected to complete their excavation by November. Once the site is cleared, construction will commence, with completion anticipated by summer 2027.

The archaeological work was funded by Wheatley Group and was required as a condition of planning consent by Glasgow City Council who are advised on archaeological matters by the West of Scotland Archaeology Service.