EHG5414 - Watching brief - 92-94 Academy Street, Inverness

A watching brief was carried out by S Farrell in 2014 at 92-94 Academy Street, Inverness, during several phases of the demolition of the buildings and immediately following. The stripping out of plasterwork and modern fittings was monitored, as was the complete demolition and subsequent site clearance works. Works for the main demolition phase involved firstly removal of the gables, however due to health and safety concerns only access to the east gable of the building (No.92) could be conducted. Following site clearance observations were made on ground conditions. Below a layer of hard core gravel was mostly mixed infill up to 50cm deep, generally described as a dark brown-grey sandy soil with 10-20% mixed stone (including several large concrete chunks), slate fragments, lime mortar and scattered and mammal bone fragments showing evidence of butchery. Within this layer were found stoneware jar/jug fragments; misc tin-glazed sherds; a glass wine bottle (made in a 3-piece mould, so probably early-mid C19); a bone handle for a brush or pen. No features were revealed, other than those seen in the evaluation (see EHG5413), with areas of the site showing modern disturbance. The latter included a steel-fuel tank to the NE corner of the site. <1>