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Proc Antiqc So Scot, (1983)3 11 , 1-10 The Scottish Burgh Surve reviea y- w J C Murray* INTRODUCTION volumn f thesI o 2 e 11 eProceedings Proudfoot (1982) examine backgroune dth e th o t d creatio Society'e th f no s Field Surve discussed yan contributiovalue e dth th f eo madt ni e towards the compilation of a more comprehensive survey of archaeological sites and monuments in rural Scotland t onl rurano n yi s i t lI . Scotland that such detailed survey wor bees kha n needed: towns pase alsoth tr decad , hav,fo so er e o bee n undergoing intensive redevelopment especiall thein yi r historic cores. A limited amount of urban rescue excavation in towns such as Aberdeen and Edinburgh in 1973 gave an indication of the possible archaeological wealth of Scottish towns and also showed that a more structured approach was necessary if limited resources were to be deployed effectively survea neee r Th d. fo f Scottis yo h town paramouns swa 197n i e d 6th an t Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments invited the Department of Archaeology of the University of Glasgo producwo t serieea reportf historie so th n o sc town f Scotlandso . This Scottish Burgh Survey, as it became known, has to date produced reports on 53 towns in Scotland. It is the intention of this article to review these reports and to attempt to assess their value and contri- bution toward stude sth Scotland'f yo s medieval towns. BACKGROUND: THE NEED FOR URBAN SURVEY ENGLAND AND WALES Almost any discussion of the growth and development of town archaeology in Britain must perforce begin with The Erosion of History (Heighway 1972). This report, published by the Urban Research Committee of the Council for British Archaeology identified the importance of town archaeology, discusse waye dth threatenewhics n si wa t hi madd dan e recommendations sa rescue th archaeologicaf w eo ho o t l deposits shoul organizede db essentian A . publile parth f -to inclusioe catioth s nf gradewa n o d list f towno s s worth f attentioyo Englandn ni , Waled san Scotland. Following Heighway (1972), reports highlighting the problems of urban renewal appeared for many of Britain's historic towns. Some were major works, such as The Future of London's Past (Biddle et al 1973) which comprised both text and an elaborate series of maps with colour overlay showin extene gth t threa e ofth t which redevelopment pose evidencdo t city'e th f seo growth from the Roman through to the medieval period. Although these reports were pioneer studies and led to the creation of urban archaeological units in most of England's major historic towns (cf Fowler 1980), the work of survey still continues, particularly at a more regional level. In 1977, Historic Towns in Somerset - Archaeology and Planning (Aston & Leech 1977) waspub- * Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums, Schoolhill, Aberdeen 2 | SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1983 lished wit intentioe hth identifyinf no g guideline prioritier sfo rescun si e excavatio thosn i e historic towns in Somerset which were most seriously threatened by redevelopment. It was also hoped that survee th y woul Counte usee th d b Distric y d b yan t Councils 'not onl examininyn i constrainte gth s imposed on development by the historic environment but also in considering Local Plans, the designatio f Conservationo nsubsequene Areath d san t preparatio schemef no enhancementf so ' (Asto Leecn& h 1977, 1.4). More recently 1983n i , , with Historic Towns Essex n archaeo-n i A - logical survey (Edd Petchey& f surveo yb t count1983yjo a e th ) y leve s beeha l n even further refined with the categorization of towns on a scale of priorities and a fuller discussion of the legislative means by which protection for individual areas and sites is best achieved, especially through the better integration of information in both Structure and Local Plans. SCOTLAND The section in The Erosion of History (Heighway 1972) dealing with Scottish towns was to be regarded as an interim assessment of the situation as the Urban Research Committee of the Societ f Antiquarieyo f Scotlano s thes dwa n workin a simila n go r repor r Scotlandfo t . This report, Scotland's Medieval Burghs - An archaeological heritage in danger (Simpson 1972) also exploratioe appeare th case r th efo t se 197 n dtownf i nd o 2an advancn si redevelopmenf eo a n i t Scottish context. Attention was drawn to a list of Scottish towns in which there was some degree of dange archaeologicae th o rt l heritage thesef O . , 11 were see beins na g seriously threatened dan within the report particular attention was drawn to seven of these: Aberdeen, Dumbarton, Edinburgh, Elgin, Linlithgow, Perth and Stirling. In his summary of recommendations, Simpson (1972) requeste Secretare dth Statf yo Scotlanr efo financdo t e survey rescud san e excavations where necessary exhortee ;h d local authoritie appoino st t archaeological officer ensuro t s particulan ei r that archaeological interests were effectively represented within planning processes invitee h d d;an universities to train and provide posts for a larger number of archaeologists. Archaeological societies, museums and private developers were all seen as having a role to play in the task set reporte th n i .t ou publicatioe Th f thesno e recommendation followes swa fouy db r year f sporadiso c exca- vatio basic n conductetownho n si d a sn a suc n dEdinburgs o h a h (Schofield 1976), Perth (Bogdan & Wordsworth 1978), Glasgow Andrewst ,S , Elgin (Lindsay forthcoming Aberdeed )an n (Brooks, Dent & Greig in Murray 1982). It was not until 1976 that some of the long term recommendations repore ofth t bega implementede b no t than .I t yeaarchaeologisto rtw s were appointe Aberdeedn i n foinitian a r l perio f thredo e years. They were employed unde auspicee th rSociete th f f so y o Antiquaries of Scotland and financed by the Scottish Development Department (Ancient Monu- ments )the: y were house courtesy d b Cit e Aberdeef th y o f yo city'e th sn i Departmen Planninf to g and Building Control. This not only provided for the first time, full excavation for an extended period but also ensured the much sought-after archaeological safeguard within the planning processes archaeologicao 197tw n .I e 9th l post Aberdeen si n were take nlocae oveth ly rauthoritb y and the whole Archaeological Unit is now a fully integrated section of the City of Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Department. The planning links having been firmly established during the initial three years locatioe Unith ,e th f t no withi Museue nth m structur ensurew e no longe e sth r term carcurationad ean l excavatee needth f so d material resulte firse th Th . t f eighso t yearf so archaeological exploration in Aberdeen have recently been published (Murray 1982). Over the same period the success of the excavations in Perth led in part to the creation in Urbae 197th f 8o n Archaeology Unit, also unde auspicee th rSociete th f so f Antiquarie yo f so Scotland, whos provido et rols ewa continueea d archaeological presenc Perthn ei , combined with exploration in other Scottish burghs where no archaeological cover existed. In 1982 the work of MURRAY: THE SCOTTISH BURGH SURVEY A- 3 REVIE | W the Urban Archaeology Unit was taken over by the Scottish Urban Archaeology Trust Ltd (Murray 1983). alss 197n oi wa t 6I that another major contribution toward medievastude e th sth f yo l town in Scotland was initiated - work on the Scottish Burgh Survey began. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SCOTTISH BURGH SURVEY Muc bees hha n writte origine th n Scottisnf o so h urbanizatio growte th developd d hnan an - ment of the country's medieval towns. Geographers, in particular, have recently addressed them- selve thio t s s problem, Adams (1978 ) inclinin22 , g toward emulation a s n theory, while Dicks (1983) favours continuit settlemenf yo t from pre-urban nucleitwoe th ,f DickO essa.s e hi yn Th si Scottish Medieval town - a search for origins (1983,28) emphasizes the role that urban archaeology plan unravellinca n yi g these mysterie assessmens failse hi h n t i evidencee , sye th f o t refeo t , o t r the long term archaeological work being undertaken in two of Scotland's medieval burghs, Aberdeen and Perth. Talbot (1980) placed the Scottish medieval burgh in the context of the medieval town in Britain and, based on Pryde (1965), drew our attention to the fact that up to 184 6bewilderina gburgh2 tota recorded48 s f so lwa thesf O .wer 1 e8 e Royal burgh Kinge th f so , 54 were founded between 112d 145werd 4an t wer5 dependen 0an eno 34 e e kind th gan n o t founded between 145 184d 0burghan s 6a baronf so regalityd yan thesf .o Clearl l eal burght yno s merit either detailed survey or excavation and so some process of reduction is necessary. orden I carefu e helo rt th pn i l husbandin severelf go y limited resource Scottise sth h Develop- ment Department (Ancient Monuments 197n )i 6 'invite Departmene dth Archaeologf o t e th n yi Universit Glasgof yo producwo t serieea report f historise o th n so c town Scotlandf so provido ,t e backgroune th r furthedfo r urban researc furniso t d hhan local authorities with archaeological and historical information necessary for planning purposes' (letter from the Principal Inspector of Ancient Monument Scotlandr sfo , circulated with each repor locao t l authoritie othed san r bodies) dateo T .

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