Archaeology Research

I have been excavating at Govan Old church on and off since the 1990s, always using a combination of students, professional archaeologists and members of the local community.  It seemed only right that community be allowed to participate in the excavation of their archaeology, but in 2024 we launched a new fieldwork initiative called ‘Dig Where You Stand’, which is designed to increase public visibility of the ongoing redevelopment work at Govan Old and improve community participation. The main excavation season coincided with the opening of the new pedestrian bridge to the Riverside Museum and was hugely successful in terms of broadening participation beyond the academic community while continuing to deliver significant archaeological discoveries. This ‘report’ differs from the technical Data Structure Report by Clyde Archaeology, as this is built around 15 personal reflections by members of the excavation team, mostly GU Honours and Post-graduate students.

The archaeological work at Govan Old began in June with a small team of Glasgow University students, who began by unwrapping the winter protection from the excavation site, resuming the probing survey of the graveyard and preparing the site for increased numbers of volunteer and student participants. From the end of August until Doors Open weekend (23/9) the dig involved 100 excavators drawn from the GU student population (43) and a diverse group (57) of volunteer predominantly from the local community. Most days the fieldwork team amounted to over 40 individuals working under the guidance of GU staff, postgraduates and alongside professionals from Clyde Archaeology. This strong local interest in the archaeology has been grown in the years since the pandemic, but received a timely boost thanks to the press coverage generated by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland who grant-aided the public engagement element of Dig Where You Stand.

We resumed excavating at Govan Old as part of the redevelopment building works and over the past few seasons our ability to conduct fieldwork has been sustained by goodwill from every quarter, not least from the group of students which has formed around the project and is now shaping its direction.  Their enthusiasm is evident in the short reflections embedded within this summary report. They selected the topics themselves with the only guidance being to keep it short.

The bridge opening has made 2024 an exceptional year for Govan, marking a regeneration watershed because of the anticipated economic benefit of restoring the connection to the north side of the river.  The opening attracted the largest crowds to Govan Old since the Govan Heritage Trust began monitoring visitor numbers 15 years ago. In the final two months of the season (September and October) Govan Old welcomed three times as many visitors than during the same period in 2022 and in 2023. If this level of visits holds up it will be transformational. The excavation also provided opportunities to introduce school groups from the Govan Gaelic School, Glendale and St Saviours to the active investigation of their past. The high level of participation and popular interest confirms our belief that the public places a high value on authentic heritage. As a means of better understanding community experience and the value placed on the heritage Rachel MacDonald recorded audio interviews with a range of the visitors to the excavations, perhaps the beginning of an oral history of Govan Old.

Read the report here: Govan Old Dig 2024 Preliminary Observations

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First published: 23 December 2024