Edinburgh, Leith, Coburg Street, Dalziel's Garage
Air Raid Shelter(S) (Second World War), Building(S) (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Edinburgh, Leith, Coburg Street, Dalziel's Garage
Classification Air Raid Shelter(S) (Second World War), Building(S) (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 268574
Site Number NT27NE 1551
NGR NT 268 765
NGR Description NT c. 268 765
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/268574
- Council Edinburgh, City Of
- Parish Edinburgh (Edinburgh, City Of)
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District City Of Edinburgh
- Former County Midlothian
NT27NE 1551 c. 268 765
NT 268 765 An archaeological excavation was undertaken between March and August 2003 at the former Dalziel's Garage, in order to fulfil a condition of planning consent.
After an initial desk-based assessment, an evaluation of the site revealed post-medieval deposits surviving along the western edge, despite substantial modern disturbance. A number of WW2 air raid shelters covered most of the rest of the site, and had largely destroyed any earlier features that may have been present.
The excavation recorded the location of five air raid shelters across the site and a number of post-medieval tenement walls, prior to their removal by machine. A demolition or levelling deposit, containing 17th to 19th-century finds, was located in the southern part of the site. Four test pits were excavated through this material to determine the depth of deposits. This material sealed a mortar-rich demolition deposit, which filled a substantial cut feature along the southern edge of the site.
Natural deposits on the site consisted of Holocene beach sands overlain by windblown sand, which formed large dunes. This is typical for this part of Leith, although the top of the sand dune surviving here was heavily truncated, suggesting any earlier deposits would have been removed.
Archive to be deposited in the NMRS.
Sponsor: Morningside Development Company.
E Jones 2003.
Archaeological Evaluation (3 May 2010 - 1 June 2010)
NT 2679 7650 A programme of archaeological works was undertaken 3 May–1 June 2010 on the site of Sandport House, prior to its clearance and redevelopment. The works consisted of a borehole survey (six boreholes were drilled) to the S of the area and a watching brief on the removal of rubble to the N of the area. A previous evaluation undertaken on the site in 2009 had identified at least one underground vault in this area
and a total of four vaults were revealed after the removal of the (relatively) modern dump of material which had filled them.
Three vaults were located to the NE of the site and a number of fireplaces and a cast-iron range were recorded inside them. A brick floor was also exposed. A further vault to the W (with remnants of its vaulted roof still in place) seems to have functioned 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 indicated that the area had been occupied in the 18th century and subject to industrial development by the early 19th century. David Bell Seed Manufacturers had occupied a large mill building on the site during the 19th and 20th centuries.
No vault existed to the NW of the development area, but there was an indication that medieval deposits might exist and a small hand-dug trench was excavated at a central point in the N of the site. This trench contained a number of potential medieval deposits with finds of pottery and glass, the exact date of which have yet to be determined.
Archive: RCAHMS (intended)
Funder: Chamberlain Portobello Developments Ltd
Diana Sproat – AOC Archaeology Group
