Edinburgh, 84-92 Candlemaker Row, Warehouses
Warehouse(S) (19th Century)
Site Name Edinburgh, 84-92 Candlemaker Row, Warehouses
Classification Warehouse(S) (19th Century)
Canmore ID 282606
Site Number NT27SE 5948
NGR NT 25555 73371
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/282606
- Council Edinburgh, City Of
- Parish Edinburgh (Edinburgh, City Of)
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District City Of Edinburgh
- Former County Midlothian
NT27SE 5948 25555 73371
NT 2557 7337 An historic building appraisal was undertaken in September-November 2005 as part of an archaeological programme in advance of redevelopment at 84-92 Candlemaker Row. The standing buildings, all scheduled for demolition, comprise four units, three parallel warehouses at the rear of the site and a single two-storey former public house facing the street. The combination of basic desk-based survey and a walkover survey suggests that elements of all the standing buildings are of 18th- and 19th-century date. The Kirkhouse, facing the street, is probably the final incarnation of a building of around 1800, though the cellars are perhaps earlier. The warehouses at the rear are 20th-century rebuilds of early 19th-century structures, which retain some masonry in their lower stages. The elevation formed by the S gable of the Cowgatehead tenement is also of around c 1800, but altered and incorporated into the listed tenement build of Calvert in 1871. Similarly, the cemetery wall, ostensibly of 16th-century date, forms the S boundary wall of the site.
The front of the site, where a 19th-century tenement stood until c 1950, is covered by demolition rubble to a depth of least 1.2m. This probably fills cellars from the tenement buildings; the back (W) wall of the tenement survives as a foundation running into the Kirk House. These cellars may originate from pre-19th-century buildings depicted on the street frontage from the 17th century (and probably before). Elsewhere, thinner layers of demolition material overlay possible ground surfaces particularly to the W. Natural was uncovered at a depth of between 0.35 and 1.3m, averaging around 0.6 m; bedrock was found at about 3-4m. The results suggest that the site has been terraced, perhaps when the Greyfriars Kirkyard was founded in the 16th century or possibly before. Since then, levelling material throughout the site represents phases of construction and demolition. It is possible that remnants of earlier building may survive, though 19th- and 20th-century building work may have removed most of this.
Archive to be deposited in NMRS, including digital photographs. Report and digital photographs lodged with Edinburgh City Council.
Sponsor: Hillcrest Housing Association
George Geddes, 2006.
NT27SE 5948 25555 73371
A group of three 19th Century warehouses built on the site of earlier 18th Century buildings, some remains of which can be seen at lower levels.
Innformation from RCAHMS, 2007
Archaeological Evaluation (16 June 2010 - 17 June 2010)
NT 255 734 An evaluation of a proposed development site was carried out 16–17 June 2010. Rubble deposits sealed the cellar of a tenement that had been largely demolished in the mid-20th century. Two medieval features, a large pit and a possible ditch, were recorded in trial trenches. Both features lay beneath the footprint of recently demolished warehouses dating from the 18th–19th century and contained White Gritty Ware pottery dating to the 12th to 15th centuries AD and charred cereal grains including oat, hulled barley and club/bread wheat. Medieval pottery sherds from the 13th–15th century were recovered from a deep deposit in an engineering test pit towards the NW corner of the site.
Archive: RCAHMS
Funder: Greyfriars Tolbooth and Highland Kirk
James McMeekin – Headland Archaeology Ltd
Excavation (16 June 2010 - 17 June 2010)
An evaluation at the site of Greyfriars Kirkhouse, Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh in order to satisfy a planning condition set by the City of Edinburgh Council. The work was commissioned by Greyfriars Tolbooth and Highland Kirk and followed previous phases of trial trenching and historic building recording. Three trial trenches were excavated revealing a cellar, possibly associated with the 20th century tenements on the site and two large negative features, possibly large pits or ditches of medieval date lay beneath the recently demolished warehouses dating from the 18th–19th centuries. The two large negative features contained pottery dating to the 12th – 15th centuries ad and may relate to the original expansion of the medieval burgh and/or the foundation of Greyfriars monastery. Further medieval finds dating to the 13th–15th centuries ad were recovered from a deposit within an engineering test pit located towards the north-west corner of the site, though the presence of modern material may indicate that the medieval finds in this deposit were redeposited in the 19th century or later. Further excavation is required to further characterise the archaeological features identified during the evaluation.
Headland Archaeology (J. McMeekin) OASIS ID: HEADLAND1-78758
