Edinburgh, Bonnington, Leith Distillery

NT 2616 7596 A desk-based assessment and Level 2 standing building survey were carried out, August 2016, of the industrial buildings at Bonnington Road Lane. The work established the following:

Building A and its canopy (B) were constructed during the second half of the 20th century

Building C is modern (20th/21st century)

Building D dates to the second half of the 20th century (1970s)

Buildings E and F probably date to the early 20th century (post 1908) reusing the shell of an earlier 19th-century rectangular building

Building G is late 20th century

Building H dates to the first half of the 20th century (c1940s)

The sandstone elements of Wall 1 were possibly part of the mid-19th-century Adelphi Fruit and Flower Gardens which, according to the 1st Edition OS map of 1852, had an extensive walled garden that ran alongside Bonnington Road SE to Bonnington Bank. The earlier stonework then appeared to have been augmented with brick to create the gable wall for

a large rectangular building that occupied the site to the east. This was shown on maps dating from 1852–1933.

Wall 2 was probably the remains of a stone-built gable wall associated with an iron works that stood just outside the proposed redevelopment boundary.

Wall 3 represents the upstanding remains of a rubble-built side wall of a rectangular building shown on the 2nd Edition OS map of 1877.

Archive: NRHE (intended). Report: City of Edinburgh Council and NRHE

Funder: Miller Homes

Michael Cressey – CFA Archaeology Ltd

(Source: DES, Volume 17)

An invasive evaluation took place on an industrial site at Bonnington Road Lane, Edinburgh prior to a residential development. Eleven trenches were excavated, covering 754m sq.. The evaluation revealed elements of the Leith Distillery and its associated Bonded Stores, later Bonnington Mills and the Midlothian Oatmeal Works. Parts of the Bonnington Chemical Works were also revealed. There were few remains of the Victoria Brass Foundry which had occupied part of the site. Features included stone and bricks walls, cobbled and mortar floors, flues, culverts, ditches and pits. A small number of landscape features may have been associated with Bonnington House.

Information from Magnus Kirby and Ian Suddaby (CFA Archaeology Ltd) February 2017. OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-273259

Traces of the Leith Distillery, later redeveloped by the Bonnington Flour Mills, were revealed during excavations at Bonnington Road Lane.

Information from Magnus Kirby and Ian Suddaby (CFA Archaeology Ltd) February 2017. OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-273259

NT 26160 75960 An excavation was carried out. The excavation identified extensive remains relating to Bonnington Mills, with the footprints of the excavated features matching those depicted on the 1876 Ordnance Survey Town Plan. A number of these features were depicted on the earlier 1852 Ordnance Survey Town Plan constituting parts of Leith Distillery, but had been heavily modified when the flour mill was constructed. There was little evidence of subsequent development on the site apart from the installation of a network of railway tracks (first depicted on 1894 Ordnance Survey Town Plan). Other additions on subsequent Ordnance Survey Editions from 1894 onwards were not identified suggesting that these may have been fairly lightweight/temporary structures.

A possible earlier building was identified underlying an area of cobbling. This is thought to be either an earlier distillery building or a garden feature associated with Bonnington House. It is not depicted on Kirkwood’s 1817 map or any subsequent map editions, and earlier maps depicting the distillery are not of sufficient quality to allow it to be identified.

The identified footprints of the Bonnington Chemical Works largely matched those depicted on the 1876 Ordnance Survey Town Plan. Some additional features including a tar pit appear to have been added subsequently. These features overlay the fragmentary remains of an earlier chemical works building depicted on the 1852 Ordnance Survey Town Plan.

Information from I. Suddaby and M. Kirby - CFA Archaeology Ltd, 2019.

(Source: DES Vol 20)

OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-367688

Founded in 1798 by Balenie and Kemp, Leith Distillery was acquired by John Haig in 1804 and operated under a succession of companies until the distillery closed in 1835. On the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Edinburghshire sheet 2, surveyed 1877 published 1885), the site is annotated as Bonnington Mills (Flour).

Information from Peter McKeague (Historic Environment Scotland) 10 May 2018.

Townsend 1995

NT 26160 75960 A watching brief was undertaken which targeted the site of St Cuthbert’s Well, but did not locate this structure. It is believed that this well has been completely destroyed by landscaping and construction work for a retaining wall and mill building carried out in the mid-19th century.

Information from I. Suddaby and M. Kirby - CFA Archaeology Ltd, 2019.

(Source: DES Vol 20)

OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-367688

NT 26160 75960 Additional standing building recording of the walls prior to demolition took place. The upstanding remains were of a rubble-built side wall of a rectangular building shown on the 1877 2nd Edition OS Map. It is a surviving fragment of a much larger building which was probably used as a stable judging by the presence of the tethering rings. Later modifications include the blocking and insertion of windows.

Information from M. Cressey - CFA Archaeology Ltd, 2019.

(Source: DES Vol 20)

OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-367688