Addyman Archaeology undertook historic building recording and a watching brief at West Nisbet Stables, Nisbet, Scottish Borders. The building is thought to date to the 19th century and is being converted to form two houses. As a condition of the planning consent it was required that the building be recorded at a basic level, which comprised a photograph survey and basic written description. Due to the possibility that medieval masonry from the demolished Early Church located close-by may have been reused to build the stables, the masonry was inspected as part of the building recording. A watching brief was also undertaken on the excavation of foundation trenches to the front of the stables and service trenches to the rear. The Stables showed no evidence of different phases of construction or reused medieval masonry. Adjacent rubble stone walls were also inspected and none was found. During the watching brief it was clear that the site had been stripped at an earlier date as clean undisturbed red sand subsoil was visible across the site directly beneath the modern tarmac and concrete ground. No archaeological features or finds were found.
J Morrison (Sun,) studied this question.