Edinburgh, Leith, 16-17 Coburg Street, Sandport House

A succession of archaeological investigations was undertaken at the site of the former (demolished) Sandport House located at 16 - 17 Coburg Street to the immediate west of Coburg Street Lane and the east of the North Leith Burial Ground. These investigations were undertaken in advance of the clearance and subsequent development of the site into affordable housing. The works consisted of a borehole survey (six boreholes were taken in total) to the south of the development area and an archaeological watching brief on the removal of rubble to the north of the development area. A previous archaeological evaluation undertaken on the site in 2009 identified that there was at least one underground vault within this area and four vaults were eventually revealed after the removal by machine of the (relatively) modern dump of material which had filled them. Three vaults were located to the north-east of the site with a number of fireplaces and a cast-iron range within. A brick floor was also exposed. A further vault to the west - with remnants of its vaulted roof still in place - looks to have functioned more as a service vault with a number of drains and later concrete piers for the buildings that were once located above it. Map regression and other archive research identified that the area had been subject to industrial development by the early 19th century (David Bell Seed Manufacturers occupied the site within a large mill building for a long time in the 19th and 20th century) and was certainly occupied before that in the 18th century. No vault existed to the north-west of the development area, although there was an indication that medieval deposits resided here and therefore a small hand-dug trench was excavated in the area to the centre of the north of the site which was to be affected by the development. This identified a number of potential medieval deposits with finds of pottery and glass, the exact date of which has yet to be determined.

AOC Archaeology 2010 (D. Sproat) OASIS ID: aocarcha1-90075