Edinburgh, Newcraighall Road, New Craighall
Culvert (Period Unassigned), Ditch(S) (Period Unassigned), Ha Ha (Post Medieval)(Possible), Mine Shaft(S) (Period Unassigned), Pit(S) (Period Unassigned), Rig And Furrow (Medieval), Unidentified Pottery(S) (Medieval)
Site Name Edinburgh, Newcraighall Road, New Craighall
Classification Culvert (Period Unassigned), Ditch(S) (Period Unassigned), Ha Ha (Post Medieval)(Possible), Mine Shaft(S) (Period Unassigned), Pit(S) (Period Unassigned), Rig And Furrow (Medieval), Unidentified Pottery(S) (Medieval)
Canmore ID 351523
Site Number NT37SW 1259
NGR NT 31933 72068
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/351523
- Council Edinburgh, City Of
- Parish Edinburgh (Edinburgh, City Of)
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District City Of Edinburgh
- Former County Midlothian
Excavation (29 May 2014 - 25 July 2014)
NT 31933 72068 A programme of archaeological work was undertaken, 29 May – 25 July 2014, on a 8ha site in advance of a residential development. The majority of the features recorded across the site related to mining activity. The majority of the features took the form of small steep sided, sub-rounded pits, with a number of larger mining shafts, arranged in three
discrete linear alignments across the site. The presence of coal in the silty fill of a large culvert, recorded towards the E end of the development area, suggests the culvert may also have been associated with the coal mining industry. The quantity, date and spatial distribution of the remaining features recorded suggest a predominance of 19th- to 20th-century activity across the development area.
While it was not possible to date many of the features, it is likely that they predominantly relate to post-medieval and early modern activity, though a small amount of medieval pottery may potentially reflect medieval coal mining or residual activity. Remnants of broad rig cultivation marks were visible across all parts of the site. No evidence to suggest prehistoric activity was found on the site, although the truncated remains of two curvilinear ditches and a linear ditch may be remnants of an earlier field system, possibly dating from the medieval period. A possible ha-ha or proto-ha-ha found traversing the site on a roughly E–W alignment may be part of a designed landscape associated with Brunstane House to the N.
Archive: RCAHMS (intended)
Funder: Barratt East Scotland
Alan Hunter Blair – GUARD Archaeology Ltd
(Source: DES)
