Cultural Heritage Survey, Holyrood Park, Edinburgh

Date February 1996

Event ID 1125706

Category Project

Type Project

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1125706

A cultural heritage survey was undertaken by the Centre for Field Archaeology, University of Edinburgh in February 1996 (Alexander 1997) on behalf of (the former) Historic Scotland. The assessment was designed to identify and evaluate the archaeological remains present within Holyrood Park, through the examination of desk-based sources and a field inspection. The results of this work demonstrated that the archaeological potential of Holyrood Park is high, with archaeological remains ranging in date from the Mesolithic to the present. A large number of sites were already recorded within the park but the 1997 survey listed all of these with the addition of many new sites. One notable find was the extensive field banks which run across Whinny Hill. Erosion of archaeological features throughout the park was recorded to be localised and small scale, mostly as a result of footpath wear.

The field survey assessed the nature and extent of erosion affecting the archaeological

remains, identified areas of likely archaeological importance, and made recommendations for managing the erosion and highlighted areas for detailed survey.

The report noted that most of the more serious threats to sites came from recreational use of the Park causing erosion, with the overall effect of erosion not appearing to be great except at specific points. It was noted that while it was difficult to determine how much erosion has occurred since the features were first identified, the archaeological detail described by Stevenson, and shown on a number of his plans, suggested that there had been a general decline in the definition of archaeological remains.

Alexander 1997