Dolphinstone Farm

NT 37807 73172 An evaluation and metal detector survey were undertaken, 5 – 21 September 2016, prior to a proposed development. The site lies within the eastern limit of the Inventory Boundary of the Battle of Pinkie 1547.

The metal detector survey recovered a total of 84 metal finds. These included coins of 17th- and 19th-century date, modern moulded and machine tooled objects and a quantity of lead scrap. No objects could be definitively associated with the 'English Camp'.

The evaluation was undertaken within a single land parcel of 6ha. An 8% (3000 linear metres) sample of the area was investigated by trial trenching. The trenches targeted the known cropmarks of a number of features. The evaluation successfully revealed a trapezoidal enclosure and the partial survival of a possible barrow, both of these features are of probable prehistoric date. A small field boundary ditch of possible post-medieval date and the faint remains of post-medieval rig and furrow agriculture were also recorded. The site is surrounded by several former 19th-century pit heads and a large rectangular pit thought to be associated with mining activity was also recorded. Disturbed subsoil was in evidence along the northern and western site boundaries. This contained coal and quantities of 19th-century ceramics. The disturbance is again most probably associated with mining activity. The evaluation also revealed that the entire site area had undergone significant truncation due to heavy ploughing. No archaeologically significant small finds were recovered during the evaluation.

Archive: NRHE

Funder: Hallam Land Management Ltd

Rob Engl – AOC Archaeology Group

(Source: DES Vol 19)