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Watching Brief
Date 21 September 2016 - 7 April 2017
Event ID 1034533
Category Recording
Type Watching Brief
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1034533
NT 2686 7384 A watching brief was carried out, 21 September 2016 – 7 April 2017, during excavations to locate a burst water pipe. During the work at least two multi-phase, narrow, stone-walled structures, each with a series of floors, including a cobbled surface at the base were identified. Cartographic evidence suggests these are two possible stables, built
against the boundary wall between the S garden and palace forecourt during the early 18th century. The S boundary wall and cobbles are, in turn, residual elements of the late 16th-century palace and garden layout. It is likely that the cobbled surface is a continuation of the present Holyrood Road, itself an extension of the Cowgate.
The buildings were partially infilled, to raise the floor levels, probably in line with a newly raised palace forecourt level, defined by a combination of dumped material, sealed by clay and mortar-rich surfaces. The sequence culminated with reduction of the upstanding walls and the infill of the areas immediately adjacent. These were carefully levelled over with bedding material for the mid-19th-century courtyard surface. These deposits then saw the introduction of a major water pipe (c1890) with at least three further service pipes running roughly N/S. The sequence can be summarised in terms of the following four phases:
Phase 1: Late 16th to early 17th century – The S boundary wall of the palace/abbey, separating the S garden from Holyrood Road, ran along the S side of the forecourt.
Phase 2: Late 17th to 18th century – The area was subdivided with new cross walls, creating at least two buildings.
Phase 3: Early 18th century – New floors added at a higher level, when the courtyard level was generally raised.
Phase 4: Mid-19th century – These structures reduced and cleared away.
Archive: NRHE (intended)
Funder: Historic Environment Scotland
Gordon Ewart – Kirkdale Archaeology
(Source: DES, Volume 18)
