Musselburgh, Park Lane

NT37SE 109

NT 350 722 Excavation was carried out prior to the redevelopment of Park Lane Hospital, Musselburgh. Trial Excavations had identified an area within the proposed development site as being of archaeological interest. The excavation uncovered the partial remains of a probable ring- groove house and a post-built structure, perhaps to be interpreted as a Roman civilian granary, attached to a curvilnear post-pit arrangement. Various ditches, the remains of a possible rampart and a number of features of unknown date and function were also recorded. The ground plan of the putative granary is a slightly splayed rectangle, measuring c8.5m by c7m, and is composed of deeply-set posts on a dense grid system. The density of posts indicates the presence of a raised floor designed to support a considerable weight.

The series of ditches and possible rampart may be part of a narrow enclosure around the granary and its associated curvilinear post-pit arrangement. They may however be of completely different date.

Sponsor: Teague Homes Scotland Ltd.

T Neighbour 1995.

A Programme of archaeological evaluation and excavation was carried out prior to the redevelopment of Park Lane Hospital, Musselburgh. Excavation revealed a series of regularly spaced rectangular pits and an associated arrangement of flattened oval shaped pits arranged in a rectilinear pattern, with a corner visible to the south-west.

T Neighbour CFA April 1995

A Programme of archaeological evaluation and excavation was carried out prior to the redevelopment of Park Lane Hospital, Musselburgh. A magnetic survey was conducted with a Geoscan FM18 Fluxgate gradiometer. Readings were taken at 0.5m sample interval of 1m with a traverse spacing of 1m. Gradiometer survey produced one area of high readings. this is possibly associated with the ditch and pits discovered subsequently in Trenches 3 and 5 to 8. Trench 5 was cut through the south-easat corner of the observed anomoly but only produced evidence for the ditch revealed by resistance survey.

T Neighbour 1995, NMRS MS 726/162

A Programme of archaeological evaluation and excavation was carried out prior to the redevelopment of Park Lane Hospital, Musselburgh. A resistance survey was conducted with a Geoscan RM4 resistance meter connected to the DL10 data logger, using the twin probe array. Readings were taken at 1m sample interval of 1m with a traverse spacing of 1m.

Very little was revealed by resistance survey. A faint roughly east to west anomoly is probably a ditch observed in excavation trenches (5 to 9). A further negative anomoly corresponds with the 'path' used by children on their way to and from school. The large negative and positive patches located throughout the survey area are probably data processing artefacts caused by the use of filters. Certainly subsequent trial trenching produced no evidence for archaeological features in these areas.

T Neighbour 1995, NMRS MS 726/162

Trial trenching, by CFA, 750m E of Inveresk Roman fort revealed seven closely set rows of post holes, 8.5m by c.7m overall, supporting a timber-framed structure most closely resembling a store-building or granary, attached to a curving fence-line; no dating evidence was recovered. Nearby, a triple-ditched feature of uncertain date and function was aligned NW-SE.

L J F Keppie 1996