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Archaeology Notes

Event ID 713410

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/713410

NT27SE 5 25722 73508

(NT 2571 7352) Parliament House (NR)

OS 25"map, (1953)

The building of Parliament House was started by the Town Council in 1632. It had been completed by 1641. The building was L-shaped on plan. Its main block had 3 storeys with a hall on the upper two, respectively the Parliament Hall and the "Laigh House"; below was an undercroft, probably vaulted but now inaccessible. The wing was also of 3 storeys.

A pediment in the modern arcade in front is dated 1636.

Today, the fabric shows signs of extensive alteration. Externally, it is almost entirely hemmed in by modern buildings, while little of the original arrangement is left within. The N gable has been rebuilt inside the original foundation, probably about 1830.

R Hannay and G Watson 1924; RCAHMS 1951.

As described in previous information.

Visited by OS (S F S) 27 November 1975.

(NT 2571 7353) Prior to the insertion of a new stair in the NE corner of the Bank Building as part of the complex of Parliament House, enabling works were carried out that involved the exposure of the original stone walls of the 1830s building and the taking down of three floor levels, from the ground to the third floor. Standing building analysis, a photographic record and hand-drawn illustrations of architectural features were carried out.

In addition, an enclosed vault was disturbed beneath the area and a small evaluation trench was excavated establishing that the buttressed foundations of the building were resting on a bed of sand.

Other works consisted of an inspection of the vaults of the Exchequer Building and a small vault beneath the main building of Parliament House in advance of further disturbance work.

Sponsor: Scottish Court Service.

D Sproat 2001

(NT 2571 7353) A rolling programme of archaeological watching briefs and historic building recording continued as part of the redevelopment of Parliament House. The watching briefs were carried out in small discrete areas to the E of the Parliament House complex. Nothing of archaeological significance was found.

Historic building recording was undertaken prior to and during the downtaking of the roof and interior of the Exchequer Building within Parliament House. Details of various internal features were revealed and recorded during this process, and dendrochronological samples were taken from the roof prior to demolition. (AOC 3552)

Archive to be deposited in the NMRS.

Sponsor: AMEC.

R Toolis 2002

(NT 2571 7353) A programme of historic building recording and watching briefs continued between January and September 2003 as part of the redevelopment of Parliament House (DES 2002, 51). An interior and exterior historic building survey was made of Court No. 3 to the S wing, in addition to a measured survey of the S elevation of the complex. The interior consisted of former prisoner cells, abandoned for later storage use.

A watching brief of groundbreaking works was conducted around the N edge of the southern courtyard of Parliament House, but did not reach depths revealing any significant archaeology.

Archive to be deposited in the NMRS.

Sponsor: AMEC.

R Toolis and D Sproat 2003

NT 2571 7353 Two trenches were opened between August and November 2004 in the S courtyard of Parliament House, to examine archaeological deposits over 4m deep in advance of development. The evaluation first revealed, at the base of a 4m deep rubble overburden associated with the 19th-century court buildings, a thin layer of disturbed clay silt that covered a sandstone cobble surface. This cobble surface may represent the 17th- to 19th-century Meal Market of the former lower churchyard of St Giles.

The cobbles sealed a silt layer into which graves had been cut, containing 96 inhumations. Burials were positioned E-W in rows, with the heads generally to the W, suggesting Christian burial. Late medieval pottery was recovered from the grave soil. This may demonstrate the southward expansion of the burial ground of St Giles' Church from the later 15th century. Preliminary interpretation indicates that burials ceased in 1566, as attested in the historical record.

The burial ground overlay a series of hillwash deposits containing building and occupation debris. Below these deposits a cobbled surface, possibly a road, was identified, beneath which lay silty clay deposits perhaps associated with medieval backland activity. The pottery from these deposits dates approximately between the 12th and 15th centuries. Naturally deposited hillwash material was identified below this, which overlay natural subsoil. Other finds include metal, wood and leather.

Archive to be deposited in the NMRS.

Sponsor: AMEC for Scottish Courts Service.

R Toolis, M Roy 2004

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