Edinburgh Drinking Water Pipeline

Date 29 April 2011 - 31 July 2011

Event ID 959901

Category Project

Type Project

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/959901

A series of archaeological investigations were undertaken in advance of groundworks for the Edinburgh Drinking Water Project which will see the installation of a new water pipeline from the new Water Treatment plant at Glencorse to the existing water treatment plant at Alnwickhall with a spur running, from NT 25354 66630 to NT 25025 67340, to join existing pipework by the City bypass.

The watching brief included the monitoring of upfill operations overlying the possible Roman fortlet at Glencorse (NT26SW 33), and the photographic recording of any field boundaries within the policies (NT26NE 67.13) and designed landscape associated with Mortonhall House prior to their demolition. This programme of work led to the identification of three sites considered to be of archaeological potential: a dyke and the remains of associated rig and furrow cultivation (NT26SE 172)); a single pit containing fire-cracked stone and a single flint flake (NT26NE 374); and a ditch with a right-angled turn (NT26NE 375). Pottery recovered from the base of this ditch suggests that it was modern in date. It may have been either a feature associated with the Mortonhall House designed landscape, or a military feature excavated for military training by troops who were stationed at Mortonhall during World War II.

A metal detector survey was undertaken pre-construction of the section of pipeline running from Mortonhall army camp (NT26NE 90) to the road leading to Meadowhead Farm over the site of a supposed Cromwellian Army Encampment (NT26NE 5).

M. Kirby, CFA Archaeology, December 2011. OASIS-id: cfaarcha1-111885

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Event	Type	Subtype	Notes	Date
959905	RECORDING	WATCHING BRIEF	At NT 25259 66783, a single pit was uncovered during a watching brief on groundworks for a new drinking water pipeline for Edinburgh. The pit was sub-circular in plan, with a flat base and a steeply sloping SE side and a gently sloping NW side. It measured 1.4m in diameter and had been cut into the natural subsoil to a depth of 0.3m. The fill of the pit consisted of firmly compacted angular to rounded burnt and fire-cracked stone with occasional fragments of charcoal. One worked lithic was recovered from the fill of the pit. This feature is considered most likely to have been a prehistoric cooking pit. [...]	March 2009
959906	RECORDING	WATCHING BRIEF	At NT 26147 68746 a length of ditch was uncovered during a watching brief during groundworks for a new drinking water pipeline for Edinburgh. The exposed section of ditch ran ENE to WSW for 33m before turning and extending 11m to the NNW. It measured c.2.4m wide by 1.1m deep, and that it had sloping sides and a concave base. A sherd of 19th/20th-century pottery at the base of the ditch suggests that it is fairly modern in date. The large dimensions of this feature suggest that it is likely to have been something more than a simple agricultural drainage ditch, and it may have been either a feature associated with the Mortonhall House designed landscape (NT67NE 67.13), or a military feature excavated for military training by troops who were stationed at Mortonhall (NT26NE 90) during World War II. [...]	March 2009
959907	RECORDING	PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY	Photographic surveys were undertaken of two boundary walls within the designed landscape associated with Mortonhall House at NT 25775 68137 and at NT 25885 68322. The first wall marked the northern boundary of the field containing the main part of the Mortonhall Army Camp (NT26NE 90). This wall was in very good condition, standing to its full height of 1.9m on the south facing side and 1.2m on the north-facing side where the soil levels were higher. The second wall, close to Mortonhall Arboretum, was in variable condition, standing to its full height of c.1.8m at the eastern end, but only c.0.5m at the western end. [...]	March 2009

Edinburgh Drinking Water Pipeline

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