Morebattle Recreation Ground, Scottish Borders: Archaeological Mitigation and Engagement

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken on behalf of the Kalewater Community Council in relation to an area of land purchased with the aim of providing facilities to benefit the community including a community garden, children's play area with trim track, picnic area, a community orchard and a large area for recreation/informal ball games etc. The archaeological mitigation was put in place in order to discharge the condition of the planning application ref: 18/00558/FUL. The work was carried out as a community project by Kalewater Community Council, local volunteers and Clyde Archaeology from 24th to 28th May 2021. A total of five trenches, equating to a total of 166.5 sq.m, were excavated across the site, targetting anomalies discovered during an earlier phase of geophysics carried out by Magnitude Surveys in September 2019 (Langston and Arana, 2019). A series of very shallow linear ditches were present, as well as a possible wall/drain, none of which appeared to relate to the geophysics anomalies.