Watching Brief
Date March 2009 - July 2011
Event ID 959906
Category Recording
Type Watching Brief
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/959906
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.
M. Kirby, CFA Archaeology, December 2011. OASIS-id: cfaarcha1-111885
