Watching Brief

Date 6 January 1998 - 8 January 1998

Event ID 1028077

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1028077

A watching brief was carried out by Kirkdale Archaeology on work being done by the British Geological Survey on the S side of Edinburgh Castle's Esplanade, between the 6th and the 8th of January 1998. This was in response to serious slumps developing on the slopes between the Esplanade and Johnstone Terrace below. The intention was to run a series of resitivity survey lines down and across the slope to determine soil depth, and dig test pits along these lines in an attempt to establish the cause of the failures, and to suggest appropriate remedial measures. Due to the extreme slope of the site, a professional climbing service provided specialist equipment and advice.

None of the test pits produced an identical sequence, but TP 3 and 4, at the top of the slope both produced two dumps of mortar rich rubble, probably representing different episodes of contemporary dumping. TP 1 produced two discrete dumps of rubble, separated by two layers of clay. TP 2 produced an entirely different sequence, and it is notable that this was the only trench at the base of the slope next to Johnstone Terrace. The finds appear to show that there has been work carried out here more recently than at the top of the slope, where the finds might agree with a mid eighteenth century date for the majority of the material present. Unfortunately, due to the inherently variable nature of these deposits it would be impossible to relate the trenches to each other without further excavation. It is also to be regretted that excavation did not relate any of the excavated dumps to the upstanding revetment walls, although their absence from the 1877 Ordnance Survey map makes it likely that all of these are relatively recent. Indeed the finds of white china from TP 2 may relate to the construction of these walls.

Excavation then showed evidence for a surprising depth of deposits across this slope. This material is almost all likely to represent eighteenth century or later landscaping, raising the possibility that medieval features may survive under this material, if use was made of this area in that period. Unfortunately it was not possible to relate any of the upstanding walls to any of the excavated areas, however it seems likely, on cartographic grounds, that these all post-date 1877.

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

Kirkdale Archaeology 1998