Medieval News Weekly • 01 Oct 2026
Scottish Monastery, Cathedral Spire, Medieval Heating and Pamplona’s Hidden Gate
The medieval world continues to emerge from unexpected places. Community excavations on a small Scottish island are revealing a major early Christian center, while conservators in Glasgow have begun the careful reconstruction of a fifteenth-century spire. In Basel, archaeologists found an exceptionally complete hot-air heating system beneath a former convent, and in Pamplona an older gateway and an Islamic coin are adding new layers to the city’s early medieval history.
Sixth-Century Monastery on Lismore Was Far More Important Than Previously Known
Community-funded excavations on the Scottish island of Lismore have uncovered extensive burial grounds, early buildings, decorated stonework, and evidence for a major sixth-century monastery associated with Saint Moluag. Before the excavation, the site was known mainly from documentary tradition and a few fragments of early sculpture.
The finds also include large numbers of small crucibles used for high-status metalworking. Post-excavation analysis indicates that craftspeople were melting gold, silver, and copper in the seventh century, strengthening the case that Lios Mór was an internationally connected religious center comparable in importance to better-known Iona.
From a Medieval Perspective
The spread of Christianity through early medieval Scotland was not the work of a single famous monastery or saint. Lismore buildings, cemetery, sculpture, and precious-metal working restore Saint Moluag’s foundation to a much larger religious network.
Read More: Forthcoming Antiquity article | The Guardian
Glasgow Cathedral’s Medieval Spire Is Being Dismantled to Save It
Historic Environment Scotland has begun a three-year conservation project on the upper section of Glasgow Cathedral’s 225-foot spire. Conservators will dismantle the stonework, record and assess each piece, and rebuild the structure while returning as much original medieval stone as possible.
The emergency is partly the unintended result of an earlier repair. A steel support frame installed in 1970 has corroded, and expanding bolts have cracked and displaced the surrounding masonry. Heavier rainfall has worsened water penetration, making the project both a structural rescue and a test of how historic monuments must adapt to a changing climate.
From a Medieval Perspective
Medieval architecture survives through repeated intervention, and those interventions become part of the building’s history. Glasgow’s spire offers a particularly clear lesson: a modern reinforcement intended to protect the cathedral eventually became a source of damage. The current project combines close recording, traditional masonry skills, and a more cautious understanding of how old stone and new materials behave together over time.
Read More: Historic Environment Scotland
A Rare Medieval Hot-Air Heating System Found Beneath a Basel Convent
Archaeologists working at the former Gnadental Convent in Basel have uncovered an almost completely preserved hot-air heating system dating to the thirteenth or fourteenth century. A fire heated stones inside an underground chamber, and warm air then rose through eight closable floor openings into the room above.
Researchers believe the heated room was probably the convent refectory. The installation is unique in Switzerland for its completeness and ranks among the best-preserved European examples of its type. Basel authorities are now examining how to preserve the remains within the wider renovation project.
From a Medieval Perspective
Medieval buildings were not uniformly dark and cold. Heating a large communal room required careful control of fire, airflow, stored heat, and ventilation. Because so much of the Basel system survives, it turns an abstract piece of architectural history into something almost mechanical: a device whose chambers and vents still show how a religious community made winter life more comfortable.
Read More: Basel-Stadt Archaeological Service | SWI swissinfo
Older Gateway and Islamic Coin Deepen Pamplona’s Early Medieval Story
Excavations behind Pamplona Cathedral have exposed a second gateway beneath the medieval Canons’ Gate discovered in 2025. The earlier structure survives to about two meters in height and represents a previously unknown phase in the fortifications of the Navarrería district.
Archaeologists also recovered a well-preserved Islamic coin, dated to the eighth or ninth century, from a layer affected by intense fire. The gateway itself has not yet been securely dated, and the coin is still awaiting full cleaning and numismatic study, but together the finds may illuminate a poorly documented period when Christian and Muslim powers competed across northern Iberia.
From a Medieval Perspective
Pamplona’s defenses were rebuilt many times, so one short stretch of wall can preserve several versions of the city. The strongest story is the archaeological sequence, in which Roman material, early medieval layers, and later Navarrese construction overlap.
Read More: Pamplona City Council | Cadena SER Navarra
The Archivist’s Pick of the Week
Of this week’s stories, the excavation on Lismore stands out for the scale of the historical revision. The island’s monastery was known in tradition, but archaeology has transformed it from a faintly documented foundation into a major early Christian center with extensive burial grounds, carved stone, substantial buildings, and specialized precious-metal working.
The discovery also has a compelling modern story. Islanders raised the funds, worked with professional archaeologists, and helped recover a past that conventional narratives had placed in the shadow of Iona and Saint Columba. The forthcoming scholarly publication should clarify the chronology and wider connections, but the central conclusion is already striking: Lios Mór was not a peripheral outpost. It was one of the places from which early medieval Scotland was being remade.
We’ll be back with another edition of Medieval News Weekly, bringing you the latest discoveries, research, and preservation news from the medieval world.
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