Watching Brief

Date 15 January 2001 - 19 January 2001

Event ID 1034144

Category Recording

Type Watching Brief

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1034144

NT 2515 7343 A watching brief was undertaken in throughout early 2001 during works within the castle precincts. The works consisted of lifting part of the floor within Component 11 of the Upper Vaults sequence of the S wall (NMRS NT 27 SE 1.36). The purpose of the exercise was to evaluate the difficulties in converting the empty vault into an area that could be utilised for public access. The particular problem requiring excavations within the vault concerned the installation of washing facilities along the E wall of the vault, and the associated need for a waste water pipe to run below the present floor level, exiting through the entrance in the S wall.The interpretation of these works is that two separate floor levels exist within Component 11. The top or present-day level consists of wooden floorboards, existing at the same level as a paved passage cut through the S wall.The date of the new floor seems to be mid-19th century. A cache of Victorian-period cartridges, dating from the 1860s, was found buried below the floor, while the doorway through the S wall would have been possible from that time. However, it must be noted that the vaults may have suffered numerous alterations over their lifetime. The existence of a providentially positioned drain as well as thick levelling layers below the present floor levels will allow the planned waste water pipes to be put in place without damage to the structure of the vault. Any plan for public access to Component 11 will have to take account of the possible presence of decaying live munitions below the present wooden floor.The cartridges comprise 45 individual items, all of which were heavily corroded. These were later identified as: three Martini-Henry cartridges, all intact and all live; nine Schneider-Enfield cartridges, all very broken and decayed; and 33 Wesley-Richards carbine blank cartridges, in good condition and still containing a load.

These items were carefully recovered and stored in sand for the immediate period. Specialist advice from Edinburgh Castle staff indicated that while the Martini-Henrys and Schneider-Enfields had a wide period of use in the mid- and late Victorian period, the Wesley-Richards were a cavalry weapon of the 1860swhich proved not to be a success, and were removed from service in 1866.

G Ewart and D Stewart 2001

Sponsor: Historic Scotland

Kirkdale Archaeology