Edinburgh, Meadowbank, London Road, St Margaret's Well
Holy Well (15th Century)
Site Name Edinburgh, Meadowbank, London Road, St Margaret's Well
Classification Holy Well (15th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Meadowbank Sports Centre
Canmore ID 292944
Site Number NT27SE 5976
NGR NT 28080 74292
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/292944
- Council Edinburgh, City Of
- Parish Edinburgh (Edinburgh, City Of)
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District City Of Edinburgh
- Former County Midlothian
NT27SE 5976 2808 7428
St Margaret's Well (NR)
OS 1:1056 plan, (1852).
See also NT27SE 15.
In 1852, St Margaret's Well, a holy well (Walker 1883) is described as a spring well, enclosed by an ancient vault over which part of the railway workshops had been built. In 1860, this well-house was rebuilt in its present position (See NT27SE 15 NT 2713 7371). It is a miniature Gothic cell of the 15th century, evidently based on, and therefore later than, St Triduana's Well at Restalrig (NT27SE 103.1).
Name Book 1852; D Laing 1862; J R Walker 1883; RCAHMS 1951.
Archaeological Evaluation (9 April 2018 - 20 April 2018)
NT 27936 74341 An evaluation was undertaken, 9 – 20 April 2018, as part of Phase 2 of development work. The evaluation primarily aimed to establish the presence and degree of preservation of the mid-19th-century St Margaret’s Station North British Railway Works and Locomotive Department and the early 15th-century St Margaret’s Well, which had been disturbed during the construction of the railway depot.
A total of seven trenches, covering an area of c1100m2, were excavated and significant remains belonging to the railway depot were uncovered in six trenches. The remains included sandstone walls, brick walls, railway track fittings, road surfaces and remains of both the original and later mid-20th-century locomotive ‘turning platform’. The presence of live services meant the cartographic position of St Margaret’s Well could not be trenched and no evidence for the well was found elsewhere.
The evaluation has shown the later 20th-century demolition and redevelopment of the railway depot ahead of the 1970 Commonwealth Games left substantial remains, including ground level surfaces and subsurface foundations.
Archive: NRHE (intended)
Funder: Thomas and Adamson
Lindsay Dunbar – AOC Archaeology Group
(Source: DES Vol 19)
OASIS ID: aocarcha1-347790
